The Youngest One 2: Dracula's Revenge
by VanHelsingWannaBe
Summary: I know title's corny, but I'll live. Sarah's back! And so is Dracula. And he wants something of hers badly. Can Sarah stop him? READ!
1. Sarah's new life

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Sarah sat in the front of the room full of 10-14 year olds class in the cold morning of Trannslyvannia listening to the boring lecture Mr.Flammerman was making. For the past 6 weeks, she had to be sent to school in the mornings to get a proper education so she could have a proper life. _But I don't have a proper life_ she thought. _And I don't plan to have one either_.

Sarah was Princess and Caretaker of Trannslyvannia, and was very lousy at it. She had to be at every meeting, make sure everybody had what they need, and get to school on time, and try to get her homework done. Which, I'm very sorry to say, was not what she had done due to her constant struggle of keeping her duties up.

"Now class, it's time for your reports. Maria, you may start," said the teacher.

As Maria, Sarah's ten-year-old friend, got up to present your report on Trannsylvannias history, Sarah looked back at Maria's brother Michael. Michael was one of Sarah's good friends and could invent small things. He reminded Sarah so much of her friar friend, Carl. But for now, Michael was asleep from the boredom the teacher gave him.

"Michael, wake up!" she whispered.

Michael just snored. Sarah took his textbook and slammed it down on the desk loud, and interuppted Maria's report. Michael woke up, almost jumping from his seat.

"Miss Valerious, is there a problem?" asked the teacher.

"No sir. Just a little wake up call for Michael," Sarah laughed nervously.

"I don't want it happening again,"

Sarah nodded and looked back at Michael as Maria continued.

"Did you do your report last night?" she whispered

"Why?" Michael yawned.

"What did you do it on?"

"Dracula, but..."

"That'll have to do,"

"But we're supposed to have seperate assignments. I have Dracula, you have agriculture."

"Agriculture, smagriculture! Who'd want to know about that?"

"Miss Valerious!" shouted Mr.Flammerman

Sarah turned around and folded her arms. The teacher had a stern look on his face.

"Would you like to present your report, since you can't seem to stop talking?"

Sarah, having a light go out in her head, started faking a cough.

"Oh, thank you Mr.Flammerman. But I'm losing my voice. I'll keep you posted." she said in a hoarse voice

"Miss Valerious, if this is another one of your schemes to get out of your school work, I hope you..."

"Um, Mr.Flammerman," said a boy about Sarah's age.

"Yes, Mr.Samuals?"

"It's time to go home,"

Sarah looked back at the boy. He was a tall, handsome boy, with brownish-blondish hair. He had just moved from Rome 3 weeks ago. She walked out of the school and on her way home, to hear snickering behind her.

"The princess can fight vampires and werewolves but she can't get her schoolwork done," said the voice of a boy named Taylor.

Sarah turned around and faced him with a hint of anger flickering in her eyes.

"You couldn't do schoolwork even if it depended on your life. Besides, I'm not the one who's failing English," Sarah said

Without warning Taylor's fist collided with Sarah's mouth. Her hands flew to her mouth as blood poured out onto her chin. Taylor started to laugh, as his friends backed away. They knew that if he hit a princess or caretaker of Trannsyvannia, he had to let Sarah hit him back. Only Sarah didn't hit him back. She kicked him in the face. Taylor went flying back 2 or 3 feet, and fell to the ground. While everyone looked to see if Taylor was all right, Sarah walked back to the manor to work on her assignment.

"Hey Sarah! Wait up!" shouted a voice.

Sarah turned around, and saw the boy from her class.

"What happened back there? What did he do?" he asked

"I don't wanna talk about it," Sarah said her mouth full of blood. "What's your name again?"

"Steel. Steel Samuals. I came from Rome. Oh! Here,"

Steel took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Put this on your mouth," he said.

"Thanks," Sarah said taking it, and letting the blood absorb on the handkerchief.

"You're welcome. Tell me, is that boy always mean to you?"

"It just looks like he's jealous of me. You know. Me. Thirteen years old. Princess. Caretaker to Trannslyvannia. Getting to live all by myself..."

"All by yourself? Where's your mother?"

Sarah felt like her heart stopped. She looked at Steel with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Hi Sarah!" shouted Maria as she came up.

Sarah didn't say a word. She just wadded up the handkerchief, threw it on the ground, and walked back to Valerious Manor. Steel looked at little Maria, and she looked up at him.

"What did I say?" he asked.

Maria looked at him with the same expression Sarah gave him.

"Come on. I'll explain," she said taking his hand.

As Maria led him to her house, Steel looked back at the princess he talked to. What was it that made her so upset? To him, she looked like a tough girl. She was wearing a white long sleeved shirt, tight black pants and small corset, and black boots with wavy light brown hair. Oh yeah. That had to look like she was a tough woman.

Sarah unlocked the door to the manor, and walked in, throwing her school bag, and over coat on the ground while she walked up the stairs to her room. She flopped on her bed and closed her eyes, and held her necklace. The necklace her mother gave her when she was born. That thought made her look at the doll a friend gave her. That friend was the great Van Helsing. Sarah sat up, and took up the doll that laid on the bed in her arms. It had black hair and was wearing a red dress.

_Hug Anna everyday_ she could hear Van Helsing say _So that when you're alone and you hug her, you'll really be hugging me and your mother._

Sarah sniffed a bit, and hugged the doll close. She heard a knock on the door. She ignored it. Soon, there were stones hitting her window. That could only mean one thing.

"Michael," she growled walking toward the door after putting the doll back on her bed.

Sarah opened her window and saw Michael freezing, holding his coat tight around him, and his teeth were chattering.

"Whoa. What's up?" Sarah asked alomst laughing

"It's not what's up. It's what's down,"

"Oooookay. What's down?"

"THE TEMPERATURE!"

Sarah giggled and climbed out of the window. It was one of her many ways to get out of the house. She jumped off the tree she was climbing on and ran with Michael to his house where she spent most of her afternoons. Little did she know though that someone was watching. Someone with a red hooded cape and a blood stained handkerchief. The same handkerchief that came from Sarah's mouth.

"It won't be long now Valerious. Not too long," that person said with a menacing voice.

(A/N: Wow. Minor Cliffhanger. Ya'll hate me now don't you? Cliffhanger on the first chappie. Who is this mysterious person? Hmm....Review please)


	2. New life, New chance, Old enemy

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

That night, Sarah, Maria, Michael, and Steel (who was staying for dinner. Including Sarah) were running around the front of the Grey House playing tag. Steel was "It" and was looking for Michael. Luckily, Michael was sitting in a tree keeping quiet. The girls, who were hiding on the roof, giggled silently while Steel looked for them.

"I thought he said he knew how to play," said Maria

"But he doesn't know how to play the Trannsylvannia rules," grinned Sarah

"What's that?"

"The princess and her friends never get tagged,"

"But isn't Steel your friend?"

"Let's just say he's working on gaining my trust,"

Sarah jumped off the roof, and landed on the ground. Steel heard her, and smiled.

"Guess who's the new 'It'" he said

"Not me," Sarah said.

Sarah ran around the yard laughing as Steel chased her. Before he could get a chance to touch her, Mrs.Grey (Maria and Michael's) mother came outside.

"Come inside and eat. It's freezing out here children," she called out.

Sarah smiled at Steel. He looked at wonder to her. The falling snow fell past her face making her look beautiful, and the smile looked like stars in the night.

"Better luck next time," she said as she walked in.

Everyone went inside and sat by the table. The Grey's had prepared a moderate dinner. Roast chicken with bread, vegetables, and water from a fresh cold spring. As they ate, Steel could never keep his eyes off Sarah.

(A/N: Someone's got a crush!)

"This is nice isn't it?" asked Mrs.Grey.

"It is nice," said Sarah. "I'll help you with the dishes after dinner,"

"Oh no, dear child. You're a guest in this house. You can go outside and play with Maria a bit more before she has to go to bed,"

"But I want to help,"

"All right. You won't have much time to play anyway."

Maria groaned as she finished her water. Michael followed her upstairs to get in bed, while Sarah collected the dishes with Steel.

"It's so nice of you to come and visit us Sarah. I know you feel very lonely after..."

Mrs.Grey stopped. Sarah looked up with a blank expression on her face

"Well, anyway, I was wondering if Maria and Michael could come and stay with you for a while. Me and my husband are going on an anniversary in England and we needed someone to watch them for about three or four weeks," Mrs. Grey explained

"So you want me to babysit them for a while?" asked Sarah

"If it's all right with you, of course,"

"Sure. I could use the company at the manor."

"Thank you. I'd ask Michael, but he'll knock down the house, 10 minutes after we leave,"

Sarah giggled, finished the last plate she was washing, and went upstairs to say goodbye to her firends before leaving with Steel to come home. Whe she opened the bedroom door, Maria was already in bed waiting for Sarah, and Michael was sleeping.

"Hey, you're parents are gonna be gone for a while, and..." Sarah started

"We're gonna come stay with you!" Maria finished. "Isn't it great? It'll be like a sleepover! Can you teach me how to use your weapons? I've always wanted to,"

Sarah smiled ash she sat down by Maria's bed. Though young and should be playing with dolls like every 10 year old girl, Maria had always looked up to Sarah as a role model and a sister.

"Maybe. We'll see okay?" Sarah said

"Okay...Can you tell me a story?" asked Maria

Sarah let out a breath of laughter

"I don't know any stories," she said

"Make one up," insisted Maria

Sarah looked at Maria and closed her eyes to think. She opened them and stars lighted up in her eyes.

"Once upon a time, there was a man and woman," she began

"And they fell in love and lived happily ever after?" asked Maria interuptting.

"Hang on, let me go on. You're getting ahead of yourself...They both came from different worlds but had one goal in common."

"What was that?"

Sarah let out a grin that formed along her lips.

"To kill an evil being. He wanted the woman so much, he was deeply in love with her, and the good guy was willing to set down his life for her,"

"What'd he do?"

"He watched her carefully, making sure that the bad guy wouldn't come and take her. And the more he was with her, the more they both fell in love. But when the woman was kidnapped, he thought all hope was lost until he found a secret passage way, leading to the bad guys evil lair,"

"That's corny!" shouted a voice

The girls turned around and saw Michael sitting up in his bed. He had been listening.

"Doesn't the good guy have a best friend to add comic relief?" he asked

"Not in this story he doesn't," Sarah said her voice filled with attitude. "Now if you guys stop interuppting, I will make sure that you will have warm beds to sleep in when you come stay with me. Anyway, when the bad guy was about to kiss the girl, the good guy took out his sword and the whole thing was a big battle for love."

"Like the Trojan War." Michael put in

"Michael..."

"Shutting up,"

"Thank you."

"So what happened next?" asked Maria

"What do you expect? The good guy won, married the girl, and they both lived happily ever after"

"Did they have kids?"

"I don't know. Maybe we'll find out someday. I gotta go home Maria. I'll see you tomorrow,"

Maria nodded, and she and Michael laid down to sleep. Sarah smiled and closed the door.

"You have a way with little kids," said Steel as he came up the stairs.

"The reason why is that when Dracula was alive, everybody was scared. Especially the little ones. I guess I developed it when I was comforting Maria," Sarah answered as they walked down the stairs.

"Who's Dracula?"

"He's this undead guy who wanted to finish off my family"

"Is that how you're mother died?"

Sarah looked at him with the same expression she gave him that afternoon. Without one word, she ran out of the house, forgetting to say goodbye. Steel ran after her outside as the snow fell. Sarah was just mounting Moonlight, her black horse.

"Sarah wait!" he said

"Don't you think you've done enough Steel?" Sarah asked

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you and your mother were so close,"

Sarah merely stared at him. She looked down at her hands, and looked up after a long moment

"Do you want a ride home?" she asked

Steel thought for a moment

"Sure," he answered

"Because if you want one, you'll have to come with me. There's something I want to show you. It's not very far. It's like a ten minute ride from here. But with Moonlight here," Sarah patted her horse's neck. "...She can get us there in five,"

Steel smiled, and climbed on putting his arms around Sarah's waist tight. His nose touched her hair, and it smelled of roses. They galloped away into the dark woods. Steel was amazed on how Sarah could see well in the dark as they rode carefully, dodging tree brances. Finally, they came to a clearing that was by the sea. The both got down and walked to the edge, breathing in the salt air. Steel looked at Sarah, as she held out her arms and closed her eyes. What in the world was she doing? For minutes she stayed like that, until her arms fell to her side, and her eyes were open.

"What were you doing?" Steel asked confused

"Talking to mom," Sarah answered

Steel started to chuckle silently.

"How?"

"You don't have to learn magic to talk to the dead. But mom's not dead. She's here. I can feel it,"

"Where is she?"

Sarah looked at Steel, and took his hand, and placed it on her chest.

"She's in here. In my heart. Her soul lies with me forever,"

That night, while Sarah and Steel were by the cliff, two dark figures slowly walked to Castle Frankenstein. They had opened the door, and walked through the dusty, and grimy halls that was abandoned a year ago. One figure, who had a red cape, and took out a neclkace. It had the pendent of the sun, and a cloud that covered most of it. He laid it on the ground of the foyer they entered and also took out a vial of green powder. He poured some on his hand, said a few Latin words, and threw it on the ground. Green smoke filled the room, and when it cleared there were 5 people sprawled on the ground. 3 of them were dressed in unique outfits, one had a black corset and red jacket, and one had a black cape. All except the one with the corset opened their eyes and got up to face the figures who had brought them back to life. The red caped figure bowed his head.

"Count Vladislaus Dragulia," he said

The man, known as the Count, smiled, and looked around. He was alive. His brides were alive and they were gasping in shock. He wrapped them around in his cape.

"My brides," he crooned.

But when Dracula looked at the woman still sprawled on the ground, he laughed.

"Anna Valerious," he said. "I'll deal with her later" He looked at the two people who brought him and his brides back to life. "And why would two young one's such as yourself, bring back someone like me to life?"

"We found it," said the red caped figure


	3. Traps in the Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Anna Valerious opened her eyes slowly. The first thought that came to her mind was _Where is my daughter?_ She couldn't remember anything that happened before she passed out. She got up on her wobbly legs and searched around her. She knew what place she was in. Castle Frankenstein, dark as ever. And the worst part about it was, is that it reeked with evil. She had no weapons with her, so she remained cautious. Silently, and slowly, she walked through the halls, listening for any familiar sounds. She came to the foyer, and noticed something was there. It was breathing down the back of her neck. Frightened she turned around slowly to come face to face with Count Dracula.

"Anna. My dear," he said with a smile

All memories flooded back to Anna's brain. Everything that happened the night at Castle Dracula came back to her.

"Where's Sarah?" she asked her voice shaking

"Oh do not worry. My friends will take good care of her," Dracula said

"What friends? The friends you only make are murderers, traitors, and demons from our nightmares. If you ever so much as look at my daughter, I'll..."

"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't threat a vampire if I were you. I've become more powerful. Sure your daughter is safe for now. But not for long," Dracula circled Anna as he said this. "She has something very important that I need for my plan. And she will not escape this time,"

Anna narrowed her dark eyes.

"Yes she can," she whispered. "Sarah is stronger than any Valerious woman that's ever lived. Even me. Even though she doesn't understand, she is still the greatest hunter that's ever lived. Word will get out that you're back Dracula, and Sarah will kill you. Along with Van Helsing. He'll be one of the first to know you're alive,"

"Ah, but he won't be able to see his little friend again," Dracula chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"You see Anna, I've forged a letter to Gabriel to make it look like Sarah's own handwriting to come visit Tannsylvannia as soon as he got off his last mission. Told him to meet her here in Castle Frankenstein. And once he comes in here, and finds you, I'll trap the both of you. That way, Gabriel won't be able to get to the little one in time to save her. My brides will finish the job, kill the girl, and bring back what is rightfully mine to fulfill my goal. Bring life to the continuation of my kind,"

Anna shook her head as she slowly backed away. What she didn't notice was the cell behind her. Once she stepped back the door closed, trapping Anna. Anna held the bars in her hands as tears swelled up.

"Do not worry Anna. You will see Gabriel soon,"

* * *

_As dawn approached, Sarah was dreaming sweet dreams she never had before. It took place in a forest with leaves falling like snow. She lay on the soft green grass in her nightgown and bare feet. She got up and started to run lightly through the forest as if her feet never touched the ground. She stopped and turned around as she saw something. It was a dark haired woman in a white dress standing by cliff overlooking the sea. The woman turned around with a smile on her face. Sarah gasped. It couldn't be. It was her mother. Sarah ran and hugged her mother tight. Tears came up to her eyes. And Sarah felt a hand on her head as it rubbed it warmly._

_"Now you'll never be alone or cursed anymore," said a familair voice_

_Suddenly there was a scream._

Sarah sat up instantly as she heard the scream. She quickly got out of bed, and took out her boots, coat, and gun, puting them on as she raced down the stairs, and outside. Her feet crunched through the cold snow as everyone else came out to see what was all the commotion. She stopped at the well in the middle of town. A young girl about 14 laid dead by it. Everyone around crowded around her. Something's wrong Sarah thought to herself. Something's happened that should not have happened.

* * *

Van Helsing walked through the underground chambers of the Vatican looking for Carl. He said he had something that he needed to know.

"Carl, I don't have time for this. Just come out and..." he started to say

"Van Helsing," said a voice

Van Helsing turned around and saw Jinette in his usual manner.

"Yes sir?" he asked

"We just got a cable from Trannsylvannia. There's been an attack,"

Van Helsing's eyes widened.

"Is Sarah all right? Is she hurt? Do I need to go over there?" he asked panicking

"She's fine. She's not hurt. But yes, you need to go over there to investigate." said Jinette. "A woman was found by the well dead. They took her to the morgue and when they went to check on her, the body was gone. Vanished. Everyone's disturbed. Including Sarah. She's asking a million times to go and find out what's going on, but they won't let her."

"When do I leave?"

"Immediatly when possible. And I suppose you can take Carl with you. He was useful last time,"

Van Helsing chuckled as he went to go find Carl. He found him by the Glycerin 48 pouring some of it into vials.

"We have to go to Trannslyvannia," Van Helsing said getting straight to the point.

"I know," said Carl

Van Helsing narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know?" he asked confused

"Sarah sent you this,"

Carl took out a piece of paper from his robes. Van Helsing took it and saw that it was in Sarah's handwriting. Or what looks like Sarah's handwriting

_Dear Van Helsing,_

_How's Rome? I bet you it's more fun there, than it is here. School's boring, but there's this boy named Taylor who's nice to me always. He knows how I feel because he lost his mother too. But apart from all that, weird things have been going on. I'm not doing any hunting anymore, so the only person I could turn to you. Please meet me in Castle Frankenstein so I can tell you clearly what has happened in this town. Come as soon as you can!_

_Love, your friend,_

_Princess Sarah Anne Valerious_

Van Helsing was once again confused. This letter almost sounded like Sarah, but she would give anything to hunt again. Something definetly was going on that did not seem right

* * *

_A week later..._

Van Helsing and Carl rode through the dark streets of Trannsylvannia silently trying not to wake everyone up. When they got to Castle FRankenstein, Van Helsing noticed something. The doors were opening by themselves.

"Maybe we should come back later,"Carl said backing away from the sight.

"Something's wrong. Let's go see what it is," Van Helsing insisted.

Carl groaned and mummbled "Wish I was at Rome reading a good book instead of this,"

They both entered the house. It was the same as before. Dark, dank, and dirty all over. Only, when Van Helsing took a sniff, it reeked of evil.

"Stay alert," he whispered to Carl

Carl nodded and scurried silently while looking around. Van Helsing came to the foyer and saw a cell with someone lying in it.

"Sarah!" he cried after thinking who it was.

Van Helsing ran to the cell, with Carl running behind him. The door was open and the both ran in. Van Helsing bent down beside the young woman, only to find it wasn't Sarah at all. The young woman opened her eyes and it turned out to be...

(A/N: Drum roll please...)

...Anna Valerious.

"Anna?" asked Van Helsing in disbelief.

"But...you...I..." Carl stuttered

"It's a trap!" Anna said suddenly.

As if her words were magic, the door to the cell instantly shut trapping them all. Followed by it was a cackle. And out of the darkness came the foulest creature ever to walk this earth was Dracula.

"Hello Gabriel," he said, using the same words when they "re-met" before.

"I should've known. Sarah didn't write that letter. It was you!" shouted Van Helsing in anger

"Yes it was Gabriel. I had to get you here somehow. So I thought 'Why not send him a letter? That'll surely get him here,'"

"Where's Sarah?" he asked

"She'll join you soon. Tomorrow night perhaps when the time is right."

"What?"

"Sarah has something of mine that was stolen 400 years ago around the time when the Valerious family made a promise to never rest until I have been vanquished. A young woman around Sarah's age named Anne Valerious was prisoner in my castle. Anne, however, escaped with a necklace that held a special power. Do you know what necklace that is Anna?"

Anna thought for a long moment until her eyes were wide with fear.

"The necklace I gave Sarah when she was born," she whispered

"So if I don't have it by midnight tomorrow night, I'll have to wait until the eclipse! If Sarah still has it by midnight, nothing can stop her as long as she has that necklace around her throat," shouted Dracula

"What if she finds out, and then you can't find her?" Carl squeaked silently

Dracula heard him and walked over to them as they backed away.

"I will find her," he said. "And the last of the Valerious will die!"

And with that Dracula went away leaving the prisoners alone. Anna started to cry softly as Van Helsing wrapped his arms around her. Somehow they had to get to Sarah before Dracula.

(A/N: Wa-hoo! They're back togethor again! Okay ya'll I won't be able to update for a whil 'cause I'm going on a trip with my Band and I won't be back until Monday. Yes I'm a band nerd, and a percussionist at that. I play the drums and can outplay anybody in my section. Wish me luck at the performance!)


	4. No one ever sleeps

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

The next night was one that Sarah would never forget. Ever. She was sitting at the kitchen table with Steel and Taylor. The teacher had put them in a group for a class project they were doing for science.

"Okay. We can put the bridge over the mini-dynamite sticks and once the carriage goes over, the bridge collapses and KA-BOOM! It blows...What do you think? I got the idea from my friend," Sarah explained.

"I think it's a great idea," Steel said

"Yeah, if you're a maniac," mummbled Taylor

"No really. It's a good idea. It explains how explosives can go off with the right equipment,"

Soon, there was a knock on the door. Sarah got up and opened it. It was Maria and Michael with their bags.

"Sarah!" shouted Maria as she ran in.

"Hey guys," Sarah greeted as Mrs.Grey came up.

"All right, now Maria should go to bed at 9:00 and Michael at 10:00. Make sure Michael doesn't have any of his rats or his little toys that he makes," she said to Sarah

"They're not toys! They're inventions!" exclaimed Michael

"You play with them, don't you?"

"I experiment with them, not play with them!"

Michael walked out of the room when he knew he couldn't win the debate with his mother. Sarah laughed a bit.

"Thanks for watching them for us. You don't know how much my husband and I are thrilled to go away for a while," Mrs.Grey thanked

"Oh, I can think of pretty good reasons...So, um, did they find the body?" asked Sarah

"No. It's the strangest thing. We've looked everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"Everywhere."

"...What about Castle Frankenstein?"

"No one goes in there anymore,"

"That's what I'm saying. Think about it. You've looked everywhere except Castle Frankenstein. Don't you think it's obvious that the body might be in it?"

"It is obvious. But you locked it. You have the key,"

Sarah was puzzled.

"I didn't lock it. It was always opened," she said

"Well somebody locked it. Someone has the key," Mrs.Grey said

"But nobody has a key. Not even me,"

Sarah and Mrs.Grey looked at each other in puzzlement.

"Well, if it's locked then, the body's long gone now. Poor Paige," said Mrs.Grey in sorrow

Sarah nodded her head in agreement. Paige was the one who got killed. And even though she was Taylor's sister, she had to give him a least a little sympathy. That night, when everyone else was asleep, Sarah walked down the aisle to the armory where she used to get prepared for battle against vampires and werewolves. But tonight was different. Tonight, something weird was going on, and she had to find out. So quietly, she armed herself in the dark until someone turned on the light. She gasped and looked up. It was only Steel awake from his slumber. He and Steel were staying the night so they could get an early start on their project in the morning

"What are you doing?" he asked

"I'm going to Castle Frankenstein," answered Sarah

"Why?"

"I have my suspicions that Paige's body might be there,"

"What?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but crazy stuff can lead to the right conclusions,"

"Right and your conclusions are...?"

"I don't know. But something weird is going down and I'm gonna find out what it is,"

"You're gonna get caught,"

Before Sarah could even open the door, she sighed, and looked back with a smile on her face

"Not if I can help it," she said

* * *

Meanwhile, as Sarah and Steel were talking, evil lurked into the house. In Maria's room she slept soundly and peacfully. Then it started. Her bedroom window opened, the soft snowflakes blowing in with the wind, as four figures flew in. They were elegant women with unique gowns on. One of them appeared to be younger than the others. They crept silently to Maria's bed.

"Aw look at the little one." cooed one woman with red hair. "She looks so adorable,"

"But it is not the one we are looking for, my dear sister," said one with black hair. "Keep looking,"

3 of the women started walking toward the door but looked back to find the red-haired woman baring her teeth and bending down towards Maria.

"Aleera you fool!" shouted a blonde haired woman. "Save it for the princess and her little friends,"

"But I can smell her sweet, tasty, young blood Marishka. It's been so long," Aleera pleaded

Marishka smiled, and looked at her two other sisters.

"I guess it won't hurt to have a little snack before we continue our mission," she said

The rest of the woman walked toward the bed, crowding around the young girl as she stirred in her sleep.

"Let our newest sister have the first bite," said the black haired woman. "It is her first mission after all"

The young woman (who had brown hair) smiled her mouth full of fangs and bent toward Maria

* * *

When Sarah opened the door that led to the hallway, she suddenly stopped, and looked down at her chest. The necklace that rested on her neck was glowing. Steel came by her side and took the pendent in his hand.

"Has this happened before?" he asked

"No. Never," Sarah answered, her voice full of enchantment

Suddenly, a thrill of excitment washed over Sarah, and her senses somehow became sharper than ever. And what was even more amazing, was that she felt like she had another sense. The kind of sense that can sense other prescenses that were not welcome in the Valerious Manor.

"Do you think something weird is in here somewhere?" asked Sarah. "Not in here though. Someplace else. It's in the Manor. I can feel it,"

"No," Steel shook his head."What kind of feeling?"

"It's hard to explain. It's exciting, but it also feels terrible, like I don't feel good,"

"Are you sick?"

"No. But this feeling is like it's pulling me someplace. Come on. Let's go get Michael and find out what it is,"

Sarah grabbed Steels arm and half-dragged him down the halls. When they turned the corner, Michael was stuffing his face on a chicken leg that Sarah made for dinner.

"Michael, are you hungry again?" asked Steel

"Hey!" shouted Michael. "A man's gotta eat,"

Sarah walked up to Michael, grabbed the chicken bone after Michael finished, and threw it aside

"You're not a man," she said. "You're a teenager. And you're coming with us. Something's wrong,"

"Well, what is it that's wrong?"

"I don't know, but it's getting closer."

"What's getting closer?"

"I'll explain later. We gotta go!"

Michael had a confused look and was about to ask another question, before Steel and Sarah grabbed both of his arms and dragged him. They started running with Sarah in the lead. Suddenly they stopped. Sarah skidded in front of Maria's bedroom door, Steel bumped into her, and Michael (who wasn't looking where he was going) bumped into Steel and fell back on the ground. Steel and Sarah looked at him and put a finger to their mouths

"Something's in here," Sarah whispered. "Steel?"

"Yeah?" asked Steel

"Go wake up Taylor. Tell him we need to leave if there's evil here. Michael, I need you to do something too,"

"I'm not gonna like this am I?" asked Michael

Sarah smiled as she took something from her back pocket. It was a gun with a hook in the barrel.

"What is that?" asked Michael

"Van Helsing accidently forgot it before he left for Rome. I figured it might come in handy," Sarah said quietly. "Steel go get Taylor now!"

Steel nodded and ran down the halls. Sarah took a breath as Michael huddled close to her back. She opened the door, and could not believe her eyes. 4 young women had sleeping Maria in their hands, and fangs coming closer to her neck. Michael stepped out in front of Sarah.

"Hey ladies!" he shouted. "Drop the sister!"

The women dropped Maria on the bed and hissed. The black haired one held out a hand to silence them. She smiled at Sarah.

"Well, look sisters," she said. "It's Princess Sarah Anne Valerious, the last of her line, caretaker of Trannslyvannia...the youngest one of all monster hunters,"

"Verona?" asked Sarah in disbelief. "But you're supposed to be dead! Marishka, Aleeera, and..."

Sarah stopped as she looked at the fourth person of the group. She had a smile on her face. But Sarah knew that person

"Paige?" she asked

Paige laughed as cruel as possible which made Michael cringed. Sarah stood her ground. If you were in this right now, and if you looked through Sarah's eyes, it would look like flames were growing inside them. The brides circled Sarah and Michael looking at them from head to toe.

"It's been so long little Sarah," said Marishka smiling.

"Not long enough," Sarah said through her teeth.

Aleera suddenly reached for Sarah's neck, wrapping her fingers around her throat as they entwined with her necklace. But she quickly withdrew it, screaming, as her hand burnt. Sarah barely noticed what had happened. When she looked up, Aleera was holding her hand in pain. This was Sarah's chance. She quickly took Maria in her arms as Michael ran with her outside.

"Lock the door!" she shouted as she put down Maria against the wall. "Then go find Steel and Taylor. I'll take care of Maria,"

As Michael locked the door shut, Sarah gave Maria a few small slaps on the cheek.

"Maria wake up!" she shouted.

"Huh?"Maria had woken up. "Sarah? Why do you have weapons?... Why is your necklace glowing?...And what the heck am I doing out here?"

"No time Maria! We have to get out of here! Michael go find the others now and meet me and Maria in the stables!"

Michael nodded and ran for it as Sarah took Maria's hand and they both ran down the halls.

"What's happening?"

"I'll explain later! Come on!"

The girls continued to run down the halls until they stopped at Sarah's room. She opened the door, and on Sarah's neatly made bed was her doll that Van Helsing gave her. She grabbed it, and held it in her other hand as she took Maria downstairs and out the door into the cold, blistering night. When they got to the stables, the boys were waiting. Taylor did not look happy.

"You better have a good reason for waking me up, Valerious," he growled as he got on his horse.

"FYI Taylor, I did not wake you up. Steel did," Sarah said as she unlocked Moonlights cage, and led her out. "Second of all, we're being attacked,"

"Attacked?" asked Maria as Steel helped her get behind Michael on his horse.

"Yeah. We'll talk later about this. Right now we have to get out of here now!

"What about your necklace?" asked Steel. "It's still glowing,"

"We'll worry about that later. Come on!"

Sarah kicked her horse and they all took off in the snow and deep into the woods.

* * *

Van Helsing paced around the prison cell holding his head in his hand. Carl sat there, and Anna was trying hard not to cry again. Dracula smiled.

"Soon Gabriel," he said. "You'll see her again,"

Van Helsing glared at him.

"Once I get out of here, I'll kill you," he said, his voice almost deadly

"How can that be possible when I am indestructa?" Dracula asked with a smile

Suddenly, there was a loud wail coming into the castle. The brides came in in their huge bat forms crying, as well as Paige, who was wailing her brains out.

"Where's the girl?!" Dracula roared.

"They escaped!" shouted Verona. "They all escaped!"

"What?! You lost the child? How!?"

"She burnt my hand!" cried Aleera.

"How can she burn your hand when..."

Dracula stopped and the room was silent for the longest time.

"Of course," he said. "I forgot. Did she have that necklace around her neck?"

"Yes sir," Paige whispered.

"That is why Aleera burnt her hand. No demon like us can't touch her." Dracula worked his gaze toward Van Helsing, who was relieved to know that Sarah was alive. "It's almost like she's protected by an angel"

"We'll get that necklace Dracula. We have someone spying on them. Once he gets the chance, he'll bring the necklace here,"

"Good,"

Anna stood up and stood by Van Helsing, joining him on glaring at Dracula

"She's smart you know," she said. "She'll find out about this, and kill your little demon spy,"

Dracula smiled at Anna

"My spy does not fail me Anna," he said. "I turned him into a vampire the night you came alive and if they ever found out about his secret, he'll come back here, inform me, and I'll deal with the children myself,"

* * *

"What the heck happened back there!?" shouted Taylor

Sarah looked back at Taylor with annoyance written all over her face.

"I told you million times!" she almost shouted. "We were attacked,"

"By what?" Taylor asked

"Vampires. They're supposed to be dead. I don't understand it. Van Helsing killed Dracula six weeks ago,"

Steel went wide-eyed and trotted his horse in front of Sarah's

"Did you just say Van Helsing?" he asked

"Yeah," Sarah answered. "Why? Are you gonna say 'But he's a murderer!'?"

"No. It's just that I know him a little bit,"

"Oh really?"

"Really. My dad used to work for the order. That is until he retired and took me and my mom up here,"

"Yeah right,"

"I'm serious. The whole organization is built underneath the Vatican in Rome. It's been there for centuries. The people down there protect those in peril and banish those who seek to harm,"

Sarah looked at Steel in wonder. She was almost laughing like she couldn't believe it.

"Well, I guess that settles that," she said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Steel asked

"Looks like we're going to Rome,"

(A/N: Wa-hoo! I've finally updated and the adventure begins! Review please!)


	5. Taking Things Seriously

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Throughout the night, Sarah and her friends rode through the long dark hours that Trannsyvannia casted upon them. Through the snowy mountains, their horses pushed the snow from their hooves and kept going, no matter how much they wre tripping. Sarah's necklace kept glowing and served as a light through the dark night. When they neared a village, she kept it under her white shirt so that no one would grow suspicious. They sighted a nearby inn that was close to the center of the village, and after they put their horses in the warm stable, they went inside. It was full of smoke from cigars and the smell of alchohal almost choked them. Sarah walked to the front of the counter, where the bartender was serving some drinks.

"Excuse me" she asked. "But my friends and I need a room. Do you have a spare"

"Hey look doll face" said the bartender. "I'm not recieving 5 gold coins from a bunch of 9 year olds. Go back to your parents"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at the bartender and took out a small black, velvet bag and spilled about 30 gold coins on the counter.

"First of all I'm 13" Sarah said. "Secondly, I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan"

The bartender nodded and handed Sarah a key to a room. She nodded at her friends who were waiting, and led the upstairs to a room that was quite decent. There were five beds with a fireplace, and a window. The first thing Sarah did was lock the door. Then she sat down in with her friends and took out the glowing necklace.

"Okay" she started. "As some of you know, we are in a tight situation. The question is though, why are the vampires alive"

"I think someone brought them back to life" said Taylor

"Taylor, nobody has the power to do that, except the bad man downstairs. That's how Dracula was brought back to life the first time"

"Yeah but I saw two people sneak into Castle Frankentstein a few nights ago"

"What did they look like?"

"I don't know. It was too dark to see"

"Then how come you didn't tell me sooner"

Taylor held up his hands, as a sign for Sarah to stop

"Hey" he said. "Just because you're the princess, doesn't mean you have to know everything"

"And just because you're a subject, doesn't mean that you have to be stupid all the time" Sarah shouted. "And I have to know what goes on in Trannsylvannia because I'm Caretaker! It's my responsibility to protect you...Now, we know how Dracula's back. The next question is, why is he back"

Everyone was silent as Sarah sat down on her bed, and looked down at her necklace that was still glowing. Steel spoke up.

"Maybe we can find some information in the library" he said

"A library" asked Michael excitdedly

"There's a library in this village" asked Sarah confused.

"Sure" Steel answered. "I saw one when I was tacking up my horse not too far from here"

"Yeah" Maria said. "I think I remember that place. Didn't your grandfather send some books there when you were my age"

"He did" Sarah answered. "But I don't understand why there would be informatiom on what's happening right now"

"He sent them here for a reason, didn't he? Think Sarah. Do you remember anything that your grandfather said was in those books"

Sarah looked out the window and thought for a moment. It's been years since she's seen those books. Back then, she had never read her family archives. Now she was wishing she had.

"I don't know" she finally said. "But I don't think they have something to do with this necklace"

"Who knows" said Michael. "Sarah, you've had that necklace in your family for what? 9 generations? And don't you think it's odd that the Valerious women were never touched by evil every time they wore that necklace? I mean, look at it! It's glowing"

"I know! I know!...I just wish Van Helsing were here" Sarah put her knees to her chest. "He'd know what to do"

Steel looked at Sarah when she saw a tear roll down her cheek. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry" he whispered. "We'll think of something to do. But I think you should keep that necklace on. If that burnt the vampire, I think it'll protect you"

"I think she should take it off" Taylor said suddenly. "It could be dangerous"

"Since when did you start caring about Sarah?" asked Micheal.

"I'm just saying I think she should take it off."

"Why"

"Why? Look at it! It's a glowing freakish looking thing"

"It's not a thing" Sarah shouted. "It's a family heirloom. Passed down to Valerious women for nine generations. And I'm beginning to think that Steel's right...maybe I should keep it on. I've got garlic outside the room. It'll keep them away for the night. We'll go in the morning to the Vatican"

"What about the information"

"We'll talk about that in the morning. Right now, let's just get some sleep. Me and Steel will take shifts on night watch. So that we can see if we need to leave sooner than expected"

As Michael, Maria, and Taylor tucked themselves in, Steel whispered to Sarah in a corner in which he pulled her too.

"Why me?" he asked

"Because I need to talk to you" Sarah whispered back. "In private"

After Sarah made sure the others were sound asleep, she went outside with Steel in the cold blistering wind. She put her hood over her head to keep it warm. Steel thought she looked beautiful as ever. Her hair flew softly in front of her face, her eyes sparkled like stars, and even the glowing necklace made her look like an angel.

"What's wrong?" he asked

"Do you think I'm jinxed?" Sarah asked getting straight to the point.

"What?"

"Jinxed"

"No"

"Then how come when something bad happens, it happens to me?"

"It's probably just coincidence"

With tears in her eyes, Sarah shook her head.

"I know it's not coincidence" she whispered

"It probably is." Steel said putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell you what. Name 5 things that you think something bad has happened because of you"

Sarah was quiet. She started to sob softly and she put a hand over her eyes. Steel took her in his arms, and began wiping her tears away.

"See" he asked. "You've done nothing wrong. Someone like you shouldn't take things seriously"

"These are serious times Steel" Sarah said. "You have to take things seriously"

The next morning, everyone was relieved to see that they had made it through the night. But Sarah was still a bit jumpy when she noticed that the necklace was still glowing. However she remained calm and tried to focus that everything will be better once they got to Van Helsing, and somehow he'll put a stop to this. Just like Steel said, there was a library in the village, and just like they planned, they needed some information...and fast. They went inside slowly as they stared at the large shelves of books, and old records. Michaels mouth dropped open.

"I've died and gone to heaven" he whispered in awe

Maria and Sarah rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"All right." she said. "We have to get on the road. Steel you and Taylor take the South Wing, Maria and I will go to the North Wing. Micahel, since you're such a book worm, I'm gonna give you the East and West Wing. Got it"

"Sure, whatever you say" said Michael not paying attention.

"Right. Ready? Go"

The teenagers split up as fast as they could, beginning their search for the Valerious family history books that were forbidden to read for centuries.

* * *

Sarah and Maria looked furiously through the shelves to find anything useful that took place in the late 1400s. Maria had no luck and fell asleep on top of a book behind a mountain of records. Sarah, however, kept going. Her urge to find clues was stronger than ever. She flipped through pages as fast as she could when she found the records her grandfather sent there. She scowled at herself

"Dang it! Would it just hurt to find out about my family history. Someone just give me a freaking book with information that I need" she said to herself

Suddenly, and almost instantly, Sarah felt something hit her head, and heard it drop to the floor. She flew her hands to her head.

"Ouch! Maria" she turned around angrily.

But to Sarah's surprise, Maria was still sound asleep. She looked at the book that hit her in the head. She looked around the corners to see if Taylor, or Micahel, or even Steel had thrown it at her. There was no one there. So, she picked up the book and flipped through the pages until she came across a drawing. It looked just like her necklace. Still looking at the page, she walked out of the aisle.

"Maria wake up! I think I hit the jackpot" she said now running.

Maria jolted her head up when she heard Sarah shout. She groaned as she followed her through the halls keeping up with her.

"Can't I get one moment of rest" she nearly shouted

* * *

Meanwhile back at Castle Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Anna, and Carl were all sitting together quietly trying to think of a way to escape and get to Sarah to protect her and the children. Nothing came to their minds. Not even Van Helsing's. Carl sighed, and lead against the cell door. Once he did, he fell all the way down as the cell broke off its hinges. He let out a yelp, breaking Anna and Van Helsing's train of thought. They both stood up

"Carl what did you do?" asked Anna

"You broke the door open" said Van Helsing

"I didn't know what I did. All I did was give it a push" Carl protested

Van Helsing walked up quickly to the door to examine it.

"It looks like the hinges were rusted" he said.

Anna, feeling very alert and stronger now, stood up and walked out of the cell

"Well" she said. "What are we waiting for? We have to find Sarah now"

(A/N: Yahoo! Yes! I've finally updated! I am sosososososososososososooooooooooooooooo sorry about not updating this story I had MAJOR Writers Block. So it took me a while to think up what's gonna happen next. Will you guys forgive me? Please? _Digs into purse and pulls out a bunch of hats_ If you do, I'll give you free Van Helsing hats...Hey wait a minute. There's one missing..._looks around room and sees a black jacket_ Emily you better give me back my hat! You don't even like Van Helsing! You think he's evil because he kills vampires. _Emily: You gotta catch me first, obbsessed person._ I am not obbsessed! Come back here you obbsessed vampirewannabe! _Goes back to computer_ That's all for now you guys. I gott go catch a vampirewannabe _Takes out overcoat and tojo blades_ Get back here Emily!)


	6. First Vampire

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

(A/N: Yeah, again, I'm sorry for not updating this story for like...ever. I had tests to study, competitions to be ready for, babysitting, and other stuff you do in a normal teenage life...except the fact that I have to take crud from a rat-faced little 7th grader who says that if I try to help him with stuff, he'll get sick, and die. He thinks I'm poisonous, the little worm. So sorry. I've been under a lot of stress lately because of him. I guess that's why I haven't been able to think up anything lately. So enjoy!)

Everyone crowded around the table over the book with the drawing of Sarah's glowing necklace. They all huddled togethor and stared in wonder.

"This necklace was forged in the early 1400's, created by 3 witches," Sarah read aloud. "The witches, however, were burned at stake with their posessions, but the necklace was never found. Years later, a cursed man named Count Vladislaus Dragulia found it among his castle, where he was sentanced to for the rest of his immortal life. He lost it again to a young teenage woman by the name of Anne Valerious. It is still among the possesion of the Valeriouses today,"

"All right," Steel said. "So we know why you have the necklace, but why is it glowing?"

"I'm getting to that!... The reason the necklace glows is because there's always evil around. When the cursed person is not within a mile radius, the necklace will glow until the cursed is far away from them. The bearer of this necklace has the abilities of unspeakable power. If any demon touches the skin of he, or she, that bears this necklace, will burn temporarily, as a warning."

"That's why Aleera's hand as sizzling!" Micahel exclaimed. "Did you feel it?"

"No," Sarah answered. "I didn't feel anything,"

"OK, that's one thing. Gimmie the book,"

Sarah handed the book to Micheal, and he read it. His eyes went wide.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "No wonder you've never been touched. It's almost like you're protected by an angel,"

"Cool!" shouted Maria.

Sarah nodded and slumped back in her chair. Things were not as they seemed right now

"Pack it up," she said getting up. "We've gotta get to Rome by tomorrow evening,"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Trannsylvannia, Van Helsing, Anna, and Carl ran inside the Valerious Manor to search for any evidence.

"Carl, check the armory. If Sarah took anything, I want to know what it is," Van Helsing ordered. "Anna come with me, and we'll search for some clues,"

They splitted up, and Anna walked closely beside Van Helsing.

"Why didn't you take her with you?" she asked softly. "She was all alone. You treated her like your own child, and yet you didn't take her with you,"

"I wanted to. I even wanted to adopt her and raise her as my own," Van Helsing said. "But the order has told me not to. They said it would be hard to sort of juggle monster hunting and raising a child. And they also said, that since she was the last one of her family..."

"But she's not,"

Anna turned to face him, and took his hands in hers.

"I'm alive," she said sternly. "And she's not alone anymore. She was never alone. Van Helsing, what was her reaction when she saw me dead? Did she burst into tears? What'd she do?"

Van Helsing started to breathe loudly at the thought of remembering him pouncing on Anna, and killing her. He looked her in the eyes, and put a hand on her cheek, as tears shown through her eyes.

"She...she was very quiet at first," he started his voice shaking. "But she was shaking with shock, and when we came back here, she just went up to her room and locked it. I left and a while after came back, the silence in the manor was broken by her soft crying upstairs. I checked on her after I picked the lock, and I saw her on the floor, in front of the fire, burying her face on a pillow. I picked her up, and I sat on the bed with her, and I let her cry against my shoulder telling her that everything was going to be fine.I told her that I would find a way to make sure that she wouldn't be alone,"

"She must've been so scared," Anna's lip quivered. "I mean, she's only thirteen and, it must've been hard for her to run a village by herself, making sure that everyone was fine, that they had what they needed."

Anna started crying softly, and Van Helsing held her tightly against his chest. Anna was right. Sarah was never alone. She just never saw it before.

* * *

Sarah and her friends were outside saddling up their horses. They had brought the book alone in case they had forgotten information of the necklace and what would happen.

"Scared?" Taylor whispered in her ear as he walked by.

"No," Sarah scoffed

"You should be,"

Sarah looked at Taylor annoyed as he walked away.

(A/N: OK, I put this in for two reasons. 1: Because I thought it would help with the story plot. And 2: Some of you may have know that in my stories, Sarah gripes about her cousin Paige, and how she's crazy like Aleera. Well, she has a brother that practically lives off of video games. When they were living with me and my family, for five months straight shudder, he liked to annoy me, and make me watch him play video games on my gamecube. I told him to leave me alone on time, and he said "Are you scared?" and I said "No" "You should be". I thought he was wierd so I shook it off, until I later found out it was a line he used from the movie "Gothika". What kind of 9-year-old boy would watch R-rated movies when he's not supposed to? And what kind of Pig Cousin would torture her cousin night and day? Answer these questions an I'll give you a free tojo blade!)

"Wierd kid" Sarah mummbled as she got on Moonlight.

Sarah rode off, leading the others, into another part of a forest. Steel rode up beside her, but yet he didn't look at her. But Sarah did, however.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked

Steel looked at her, and laughed.

"Why?" he asked

"Because you're watching me like a hawk, and it's starting to bug me," Sarah said annoyed.

Sarah rode up a little faster, and Steel again caught up with her.

"Would you stop?" asked Sarah, frustrated.

"Look," Steel said. "I'm not stalking you. But ever since that necklace started to glow, I have to make sure you don't get hurt"

"You?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, and almost laughed out breathless.

"What?" asked Steel. "What's so funny?"

"Did Van Helsing tell you to watch over me?" she asked.

"What? No! He didn't. But I'm pretty sure he'd want you to..."

"He asked you, didn't he?"

Steel looked down at his horse as the others stopped behind Sarah.

"Yeah," he confessed. "He knew that my family was going to retire to Transylannia, and he just came up to me, and told me to make sure that you were OK. He told me about when he was with you and your mother during the battle with Dracula..."

"Oh," Sarah said. "So he just gave you an order to become friends with me?"

"Since when were we friends?"

"We're not! I just gave you my respect,"

Micheal and Maria looked at each other with mischievious looks.

"Sarah and Steel sitting in a tree," they sang. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes Sarah with a..."

"A gun to your heads if you two don't shut up!" shouted Sarah.

Taylor rode up with a smile on his face.

"Look out everyone," he joked. "We've got a fiesty one,"

Sarah shot him a death glare as he went past. But as he did, Moonlight started rearing back, and neighing.

"Moonlight!" she shouted. "Stop it!"

Micheal and Maria backed up, while Steel got of his horse to help Sarah. Taylor only just watched. Moonlight kept going crazy, until Sarah lost her balance. She was hanging there with her feet still hanging on. Moonlight took off running. Steel got back on his horse.

"Taylor!" he shouted. "Watch Maria and Micheal!"

Maria and Michael groaned as Steel galloped away. They hated Taylor so much. Even as much as Sarah. Steel kept on following Sarah. Sarah tried to get up using her back flexability. Before Steel could manage to get to her, she sat up on her saddle, and pulled the reins on Moonlight.

"Whoa," she whispered. "Easy girl. Calm down,"

"Would you like to tell me what the heck happened with your horse?" asked Steel, a bit disappointed in his attempted rescue.

"Moonlight has sort of a phobia of evil," Sarah explained. "It's a sort of sense she has. When something evil is near her, she goes crazy,"

Sarah's voice faded into a whisper. She stared at Steel. She was about to say something when she heard screams.

"Come on!" she shouted to Steel.

The two galloped away back to the clearing of the forest. Michael had his arms around Maria keeping her safe as four vampires circled them. Taylor was no where in sight.

"Where's the princess?" asked Aleera hissing at the children.

"You never change do you Aleera?" asked Sarah drawing her sword with Steel.

The brides turned around forgetting the children and all eyes were on Sarah

"We haven't, but you have changed," Marishka said, her voice dripping with too much sweetness.

"What do you mean?" asked Sarah as the brides started to circle her.

"Well," Verona said. "You've grown up,"

"But it's only been six weeks since I saw you guys,"

"Yes, but you've grown up into a young beautiful princess through responsibility,"

"Oh how else has she grown up sister?" asked Aleera picking Sarah up by the arm careful not to touch her skin. "Do tell,"

"She still has her mother's face," Verona said. "Except for the eyes,"

"That's right! They're blue,"

"Oh she'd make a wonderful human ruler of the world,"

"Excuse me?" asked Sarah shaking Aleera's arm off and dropping to the ground. "What do you mean 'human ruler of the world'?"

"The master has a proposition for you, young princess," Marishka said. "What you hold around that juicy, sweet, tasty..."

"Cut to the chase Marishka!" shouted Paige.

"The master wants you join us. There's an eclipse that is to take place in 4 days. The Blood Eclipse,"

"The Blood Eclipse?" asked Maria confused.

"It's an eclipse that shows every 500 years," explained Michael. "It's supposed to have some sort of power but we don't know what,"

"Oh?" asked Sarah. "Then how do you know that?"

"I read,"

"You have very smart friends princess," Paige glared. "I just don't see why you would want to be friends with them, when you could have friends who have power,"

"Power?" asked Sarah gripping the handle of her sword. She scoffed. "The powers you use for are used for torture, torment, and death. I use mine for good,"

"Really? Let's put it to the test,"

Sarah knew what was happening. They were going to attack her. She heard Aleera snarl and charge after her, but Sarah backflipped out of her way, landing on the branch of a tree.

"Micheal! Maria! Steel!" she shouted. "Fight them!"

"Right!" shouted Michael "...With what?"

"Anything! Hurry up!"

Steel draw his sword and started fighting with Paige. Paige used her long nails to block the blade. She spin-kicked him in the stomach, and he fell to the ground. He groaned as she stepped on his chest, bending over to look at his face.

"You're weak," she sneered. "Ever since you teamed up with the princess, you've always been weak,"

"Well that sounded like...," Steel said before throwing dirt in Paige's eyes. She screamed and got off him. Steel rolled on the ground and grabbed his sword. "...you had a crush on me since I came to Transylvania,"

Paige roared and started to fly after him

Meanwhile with Michael, and Maria...

Marishka and Verona were chasing the two children. Michael was running so fast, he barely even noticed (since he wasn't a very fast runner).

"Michael!" shouted Maria. "Over here!"

Michael saw Maria in a burrow, and ducked in there.

"Dang it!" Maria said. "How do we get ourselves out of this?"

"Leave it to me," Micheal said.

Maria looked at her brother wierdly.

"Leave it to you?" she asked. "What are you gonna do? Throw your slingshot at them,"

"Not quite," Michael grinned.

Micheal dug into his backpack, and took out some sort of gun.

"What the heck is that?" asked Maria. "And didn't mom tell you not to bring any of your stupid toys?"

"They're not toys! They're inventions!" Michael protested. "And this is a stake gun. Watch,"

Michael dragged Maria out of the burrow, and aimed it at Aleera who was trying to get Sarah down. But, luckily, she wasn't having any much luck. Sarah's quick movements, were too smart for Aleera.

"I dont' know if it's such a good idea to be aiming at her, Micheal," Maria said nervously.

"Come on," Michael said. "What's the worse that could happen?"

Michael shot the gun, and it hit Aleera in the ankle. She let out a wail, and then hissed at the children

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to shoot her you twit!" Maria slapped Michael upside the head. "Run!'

"Where?" asked Michael.

"Away from here!"

As Micheal and Maria started to run, Sarah's mind was racing to find an idea.

"_Think Sarah. Think_!" she said to herself. "_What happens every time a bride dies?"_

He thoughts raced through memories. Marishka being sizzled to death, Verona being creamted by stakes, and Aleera exploding. Then it occured to her.

"Michael! Give me your gun!"she shouted.

Michael seemed to have heard her, and threw it in the air. But it wasn't far enough. As it started to fall to the ground, Sarah jumped off the tree she was standing on. The gun hit the ground, but she didn't. Marishka caught her by the foot and started to fly away with her. She dangled upside down in the air.

"Michael! Give me the gun now!" she shouted angrily.

"I'm hurrying!" he shouted.

As Michael ran for the gun, dodging the brides that were coming after him, Sarah took her knife that stuck on the side of her corset, and cut Marishka's ankle. Marishka screamed, and let go of Sarah. Sarah fell through the air.

"Michael!" she shouted. "Throw it to me Michael!"

Michael threw the gun, and this time Sarah caught it. She aimed...and fired straight at Marishka's heart. The stakes hit her clear through her heart. She wailed, and started to burn and fall. The other brides started to wail too, and flew away. Sarah's plan had worked with lightning speed thoughts. Before she landed on the ground, Steel caught her in his arms.

"You okay?" he asked.

Sarah looked at him in his eyes. She almost gasped. His eyes were the most beautiful things she's ever seen. They were emerald green.

"I'm fine," she whispered, as she got down.

Sarah whistled for Moonlight, and as she trotted toward her, Taylor came out from behind a tree.

"All hail the all around coward of Transylvannia," Maria laughed.

"It's not funny," Taylor griped. "What happened?"

"Bride's attacked us. Again," Sarah explained as she got on.

"And Sarah got Marishka!" Michael explained. "Isn't it great? She killed her first vampire,"

"Unfortunetly it wasn't Aleera,"

Everyone laughed except Taylor.

"Van Helsing would've been proud of you," Steel said. "Even your mother,"

"Yeah," Sarah whispered. "She would be,"

They started to ride away, when Michael rode up next to her.

"Sarah listen," he said. "I'm truly sorry for calling you an arrogant reckless popinjay,"

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"You've never called me an arrogant recklass popinjay," she said confused.

"Well," Michael said. "Not to your face,"

(Review please!)


	7. Broken

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

That night was one of the coldest nights in the children's journey to Rome. They would be in Vatican City the next night, and in order to get there in time they had to get up early before dawn. Sarah couldn't wait to see Van Helsing again. She had almost forgotten the look of his face, his voice, and the softness of his touch. But she would never forget him. She looked at the doll that was safely tucked in her backpack. She remembered the first time she had it with her alone.

Sarah couldn't sleep that night. The last three nights had been restless for her, and the safe nights of Transylvannia didn't comfort her. Even if there was no evil. The fire in her room crackled softly, and the covers on Sarah's bed were warm on top of her flannel nightgown. Sighing, she got out of bed, and looked out the window. Through the village, she found everyone getting ready for bed. Through one of the windows, she saw Maria being tucked in by her mother. They looked so happy. Maria's mother kissed her daughter on the forehead, and Sarah could almost tell that she was saying "Good night sweetheart". She remembered her own mother tucking her in when she was very little. Sarah covered her mouth to block a few sobs from the memories she had. As tears streamed down her cheeks, she looked at the chair in the corner. It was a rocking chair, where her mother used to sit, until Sarah would go to sleep. Instead of her, sat Sarah's doll. The one Van Helsing gave to her that morning. It looked so much like her mother. She guessed that's why Van Helsing bought it for her, so she wouldn't be alone. She took it in her arms, and sat down in the chair.

"I love you mother," she whispered to herself before drifting off to sleep.

"Sarah?" asked a voice. "Are you all right?"

Sarah snapped out of her memories and came back to reality. Steel was right by her side. He had a hand on her shoulder, and a concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine," Sarah said. "I'm just a bit tired,"

"We'll get some sleep soon," Steel reassured. "Don't worry,"

"Uh, Steel," Michael said.

Everyone turned to look at Michael. He was sitting on his horse with Maria in front of him. She was sleeping, and her horse was being led by Taylor. Sarah smiled.

"I think we'll stop for tonight," she said to Steel.

Sarah halted Moonlight gently, and got off to set up camp. Steel helped Michael with Maria and put her to bed. While they were setting up three tents, Sarah made a warm fire, and started warming herself up. When the boys were done with what they were doing, they sat down by Sarah.

"We'll be in Rome by dawn tomorrow if we get up early," Steel explained.

"I know," Sarah whispered.

"Are you excited?"

"For what?"

"Seeing Van Helsing again. You haven't seen him for six weeks, and you only wrote him like 3 or 4 letters,"

"Well, you know how it is when you're the last member of your family,"

"No, Sarah. I don't know. I don't know because you don't want to talk about it,"

"What's there to talk about! I lost all of my family. I'm all alone. I have no where to go but Romanaia and...Oh! Forget it!"

Sarah got up and walked away from the boys, and rested her shoulder against a tree. Closing her eyes she tried to picture herself at home with her mother, her uncle, and her grandfather. Steel looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

"Isn't it ironic?" asked Sarah. "That this whole adventure should belong to Van Helsing? That this mission should be for a skilled monster hunter? But it wasn't given to him. It was given to me, a thirteen year old princess, who doesn't know the world, who only knows this patch of land by heart. But you know what? That land is cursed, and now since I'm the only one left, it is my problem to take care of that lands problems...It's not fair,"

"Who said life was fair Sarah?" asked Steel getting up. "Huh? Who?...You? Well, it's not, is it? Nobody's life is perfect,"

"I'm not asking for my life to be perfect!" Sarah said with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm just asking for a family to be with. Van Helsing is all I have left, but I hardly know him."

"He's not all you have left Sarah! You have me! You have us!"

"You? Us? I don't see any us around here. All I see is someone who is tricking me to be his friend,"

"I did not trick you into being my friend Sarah. You of all people know that!"

"Well you're the one who..."

"Ah!" sighed Taylor. "The sound of people fighting. Don't you just love it,"

"And you!" Sarah pointed at Taylor. "You have no place in this conversation. You're weird. And as I've said to you when I first met you you're weak! Weak! You don't do anything right!"

Taylor stood up from the fire that was keeping him warm, and walked toward Sarah slowly. The necklace that rested on her neck glowed brighter when he was 3 inches in front of her face. Sarah didn't notice as she stared into his cold eyes.

"You're the one who's weak Sarah Valerious," he hissed. "You're just too scared to mention it. You want to be just like Van Helsing and be a brave little girl,"

"I'm not little!" Sarah said through clenched teeth. "I'm thirteen years old,"

"In my point of you, you are little. You order us about just so that we could be safe from Dracula. Well guess what princess? The more you protect us, the more you put yourself right into his grasp,"

Sarah raised an arm to hit Taylor but stopped. He wasn't even going to flinch. He still had that look on his face. It was the same look Dracula gave her when she first met him. It tore at her soul. She lowered it slowly.

"I knew you didn't have the guts," Taylor sneered. He turned to the boys. "Good night gentlemen,"

Taylor turned away to go to his tent into the far corner of the clearing of the forest. Michael glanced around nervously.

"I can see that I'm not wanted around here," he said. "I'm gonna go to bed. Night guys,"

Michael scurried away to his tent. Steel still stood behind Sarah, staring at her. She was alone. And he knew she hated it. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. He caught up with Michael.

"Do you know how to play the guitar?" he asked. "I know you brought one with you to Sarah's, and you forgot to unpack it,"

"Yeah." Michael answered. "My dad taught me. Why?"

"I need you to play this,"

Steel dug into his pocket, and took out a peice of music.

"What's it called?" asked Micheal.

"'Broken'" Steel answered. "My mother used to sing it to me when I was little as a lullaby. Maybe it'll cheer her up,"

That night, Sarah sat by the fire silently playing with the pendent she had around her necklace. It was quiet in the evening, and she hadn't said a word since the fight. Suddenly, she heard a guitar playing. She looked around and saw no one there. When she looked back, she saw Steel standing there with stars lighting up in his eyes.

"Steel what's going on?" she asked.

"I wanted you you to know that I loved the way you laugh," Steel sang as he came forward

"Steel stop it,"

"I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away,"

"I said stop,"

"I keep your photograph, and I know it serves me well. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain,"

Suddenly, Sarah started singing too, as if Steel was telling the words to her through mind.

"Cause I'm broken, when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when you're gone away," they sang togethor.

The guitar played again. Sarah looked into Steel's eyes. And she had a feeling that she had never felt before. He took her into his arms. And hand in hers, and an arm around her waist, and soon they were dancing around the fire.

"You've gone away," Steel sang. "You don't feel me here...anymore,"

Then, Sarah started singing by herself.

"The worst is over now," she let her voice ring out in the forest. "And we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away. There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain,"

They started singing togethor again, not caring if anyone would hear them.

"Cause I'm broken, when I'm open and I don't feel like I am strong enough. Cause I'm borken when I'm lonesome and I don't feel right when you're gone away."

The two stared into each other's eyes for the longest time. They strayed into the forest, and they didn't care. In fact, they didn't even know. They were lost into each others worlds. Sarah's hands started to shake, not from fear, but from excitment. She knew what was going to happen next. The guitar stopped for a moment, and then...her lips were pressed against Steel's. She couldn't believe it. Her first actual kiss!. They stopped, and their faces turned bright red. And they sang again.

"Cause I'm broken, when I'm open and I don't feel like I am strong enough. Cause' I'm broken when I'm lonesome and I don't feel right when you're gone away."

Steel lifted Sarah into the air, picking her up under the arms, abn twirling her around. Srah laid her head back so she could face the sky, closed her eyes, and let arms spread out as Steel contiued to twirl her around.

"Cause I'm broken, when I'm open and I don't feel like I am strong enough. Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome and I don't feel right when you're gone away,"

Steel put Sarah down and the danced back to the campfire where their danced had ceased as Steel sang the last words.

"You've gone away...you don't feel me here...anymore," he finished

He stopped, and silence filled the air. They stared at each other one last time, before Sarah broke away from his gentle grasp.

"Good night," she whispered before confining herself to her tent.

That night, a dark figure lurked through the woods. The red cloak that covered the mysterious stranger walked swiftly through the many branches of the forest, until he stopped. There in front of him, was Dracula in his night cape.

"Have you retrieved the necklace from the princess?"he asked.

"No," answered the red cloaked stranger.

Dracul stared at the red cloaked stranger, angrily. He approached him swiftly.

"With your strength and your immortality why can't you trick one, simple, little, thirteen year old princess?" he asked silently.

"You know what happens when people like us touch her!" shouted the red cloak stranger. "She has the power to burn our skin. I can't even go near her, without her necklace glowing so bright. It blinds me,"

"There's a solution to that my dear boy,"

Dracula took a vial out filled with blueish liquid.

"Throw this formula around her neck, and it will delay the power of the necklace. It will also enable her to put her into a deep sleep temporaily so she won't wake up while you're taking the necklace off her,"

"What if she finds out that I took it?"

A glint shown brightly through Dracula'a eyes.

"Kill her,"


	8. Traitor

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

(A/N: Sorry if this is kind of short. Before you read this, I just want to say one thing...I hate flames. I just got one or two from the same person in a row. Well let me tell you something. I won't say who it is, because I don't want the rest of the reviewers to say any rude comments. If you don't like my story, you don't have to read it. Besides, I just thought the song in the last chapter would be cool enough to spice things up a bit between Sarah and Steel.)

The next morning, Sarah moaned softly as she woke up. That last night was peacful. She dreamt sweet dreams, all full of Steel. His lips felt wonderful. They tasted so good, she wanted more. Suddenly when she opened her eyes, she noticed something. There was no light in her tent. There had to be light because of the necklace that was glowing, but when she looked down at her neck... The necklace was gone.

"Oh no," she whispered.

She quickly sprung from her sleeping area, and ran outside. First, she went toward Maria's tent. She bent down and shook her.

"Maria!" she cried softly. "Wake up!"

Maria groaned softly.

"No mommy," she said in her sleep. "I don't want to go to school. Taylor and the others will make fun of me,"

Sarah raised and eyebrow and sighed.

"WAKE UP!" she shouted.

Maria sat up straight from her sleeping bag.

"What!" she cried. "Can't I get a few minutes of rest. I don't have to wake up yet!"

"The necklace," Sarah panicked. "Where is it?"

"You mean don't know where it is?"

"No."

"What did you do with it?"

"I fell asleep with it on. When I woke up, it was gone. We have to find it."

As Maria got dressed, Sarah rushed outside, and woke the boys up.

"You get off your butts now!" she shouted with such force.

Michael shot up from his sleeping area yelling. As he did he bumped his head on the top, causing the tent to collapse. Sarah got out of there, but the boys weren't so lucky. The boys yelled in surprise, and she could see them squirming around inside.

"Michael you idiot!" shouted Taylor.

"Yeah!" shouted Steel. "Watch what you're doing next time!"

As soon as the boys got out of their messy tent, they noticed something was wrong. Sarah had this worried look on her face, and she was pacing around saying "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh," over and over again. Steel came toward her cautiously.

"Sarah..." he said. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"The necklace is gone!" she said franctically.

"WHAT!"

"I just woke up and it was gone!"

"Calm down. Calm down. Maybe you dropped it somewhere. Everyone look for it,"

Everyone excpet Taylor, got down on their knees and searched the snowy grounds. The fate of the world was in their hands, and they lost it. Taylor walked around, closely to Steel. He eyed something that was dangling from his belt. He grabbed it. Steel noticed what happened and got up.

"Hey!" he shouted. "What was that for?"

"I found it Sarah!" Taylor shouted.

Sarah looked up, and saw the necklace dangling from Taylor's hands. She stood up.

"Where'd you find it?" she asked.

"Steel had it," Taylor grinned.

Sarah's eyes grew wide, and she turned to look at Steel, the boy she had kissed, and was just falling in love with.

"You stole it?" she asked in disbelief.

"I didn't steal it!" Steel protested. "I would never steal. Not from you,"

"Don't listen to him!" Taylor shouted. "He's lying!"

Steel turned to face Taylor. Fury flashed in his eyes, and his blood started to boil.

"I am not lying!" he shouted. "You have no proof!"

"Oh really?" asked Taylor with a sly smile. "Sarah...kiss him,"

Sarah looked at Taylor confused. He still had that grin on his face, and yet something about that grin troubled Sarah very much.

"What?" she asked.

"Kiss him," Taylor said again giving the necklace to Sarah

Sarah looked at Steel. There seemed to be much innocence in his eyes. Slowly, walking and breathing heavily, she walked to Steel, while fastening her necklace around her neck. It started glowing again. She looked at Steel He didn't seemed worried about the whole situation. She leaned in, tilting her head towards his cheek. Her lips pressed against his soft skin, and yet something was not right. Steel felt pain coarse through his face. It was burning. He yelled out in pain, and yanked away from Sarah. Sarah took gasps of shock. She couldn't believe it. Steel was evil.

"You traitor," she growled.

"I'm not a traitor," Steel said. "I don't know what happened."

"Don't lie to me!"

"Sarah I'm not lying! I would never lie to you! I'm only trying to protect you!"

Steel grabbed Sarah's arms in comfort. She pushed him away.

"Don't touch me, you monster! And quit saying that you were trying to protect me. You lied to me from the very day you met me!"

"I didn't."

"Sarah," Taylor said walking toward Sarah.

Sarah looked at Taylor. He grabbed her bare hand. And it didn't burn.

"I think it's time to say goodbye to our dear friend, Steel Samuels," he said. "He's given you many reasons to banish him. He lied to you. He made you think that love would strengthen this journey to save the world from evil...He's in league with Dracula. He's been following your tracks since the day he was brought back to life."

Steel shook his head in disbelief. Sarah wouldn't send him away. She couldn't. But when he looked into her eyes, he could see the sadness, but also the fury in her eyes.

"Steel," she said softly. "I...I..."

"It's okay Sarah," Steel whispered. "I know what you want me to do. I'll go back to Transylvannia,"

Steel went back to the tent, got his bag, mounted his horse, and rode away. The children looked back in sadness. Their very dear friend was riding away. Sarah couldn't help hold back the tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.

"Let's go everyone," she announced. "We have to be in Rome by dawn,"

Michael and Maria looked at each other, and nodded. Michael went back to fold up the tent, when he noticed something on the ground. It was a vial with a drop of blue liquid. He picked it up and looked at it curiously. He found another vial with only a drop of reddish liquid. He looked at both vials suspicously. Something was not right, and he had to get to the bottem of it.


	9. Tricked

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

The day Steel left the group of brave children, the sky grew dark and it started to snow softly. It never stopped snowing, and it was covering the ground so fast. Sarah didn't seem to notice. She kept thinking about Steel, and how good his lips tasted, and how good his soft skin felt when he touched her. And yet, she wondered if banishing him from their group was a good idea. She couldn't help but feel guilty, and felt that something wrong was going to happen. Maria never spoke either, and neither did Michael. Taylor had a smug smile on his face. Maria looked back at her brother who was staring at something in his hands.

"Michael, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing," Michael said nervously.

Maria narrowed her dark brown eyes as Michael dug something into his pocket. He saw that she was staring at him and smiled a grin, showing his teeth.

"You're not telling me something," she said. "You've been unusually quiet all day, and for once your silence is getting on my nerves. What's going on with you?"

"None of your business," Michael glared

"Tell me! I'm your sister,"

"That doesn't mean I have to tell you,"

Michael and Maria started arguing, breaking Sarah's train of though. She turned her horse around and faced them with an angry expression

"Hey!" she nearly shouted. "You two knock it off, or I'll knock your heads together!"

Michael and Maria looked at each other. Sarah was never this angry before. She turned around and trotted alongside Taylor. He looked at her with his smug smile.

"Bad day?" he asked

"Like you care," Sarah said under her breath.

"Oh but I do. Anger can help you survive Miss Valerious. Keep it up, you can conquer anything,"

"I'm not searching to conquer anything, Taylor. I'm searching for freedom,"

Sarah rode away from Taylor, focusing on the road ahead of her. Maria was about to say something, when she noticed something else. Ahead of them, she could see a glint of a shining city. She knew where they were. Vatican City. Soon everyone was catching a glimpse of it. Maria gasped with surprise and started to get off her horse and run towards the edge of the forest.

"We made it!" she kept on shouting.

"Maria, wait up!" Sarah called

Maria didn't listen. She still kept on running to get a better look at the place. But suddenly, before the others very eyes, she fell through a giant hole, that was covered with a blanket of leaves. They heard her scream echo loudly as they ran toward the edge.

"Maria!" Sarah shouted.

"My mom's definitely gonna kill me," Michael groaned.

"You! She's gonna kill me! I'm practically your babysitter,"

"Well, you certainly aren't doing a good job of it,"

"Shut up Michael!"

"No way!"

"Stop fighting," shouted Taylor. "I'll go get Maria,"

"Right," Sarah agreed "Michael, go get that rope off of Moonlight's saddle,"

Michael hurriedly fumbled towards Moonlight and grabbed the rope. While Sarah tied one end to a nearby tree, Taylor tied the other end around his waist.

"I'll tug on this two times when I find Maria," he explained. "Then pull us up with all your strength. Understand?"

"Yeah," Michael answered.

"Be careful," Sarah said tightening the rope

Taylor smiled and walked up to her

"Don't worry," he put a hand under her chin

Sarah didn't smile. He leaned in forward to kiss her, when she noticed something. A spot of red was on his shirt, slowly fading to a brown color.

"Is that blood?" she asked

Taylor looked down at his shirt.

"Oh," he said in realization. "I accidentally cut my finger last night and a drop landed on my shirt,"

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"Do you have to know everything?"

"No…I'm just concerned,"

Taylor just darkened his eyes and let himself drop into the hole. Sarah remained quiet as she leaned against a tree. Michael looked at her.

"You love him," he said. "Don't you?"

"Who?" asked Sarah

"Steel,"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Don't lie to me Sarah. I saw you kiss him last night. That was the first time I saw you happy in weeks. It was like…"

"…he lifted this huge burden off me?"

"Yeah,"

"Yeah? Michael, Steel's evil. All he did was put me under his spell. He's a traitor,"

"Sarah, if he wanted the necklace from the beginning, he would have. You know he wouldn't do anything to hurt you,"

"He already did,"

"Sarah, he loves you. He told me last night. I'm almost certain that he was framed!"

"'Almost certain'? Then how can you be sure Steel's just a regular guy,"

"I don't know. But I think it might have something to do with these,"

Michael reached into his pocket, and dug out the two vials he had earlier. Sarah studied them. One had a few drops of blue liquid, and the other with the same amount, only red. She took them in her hands.

"Where did you get these?" she asked

"I found them on the ground," Michael answered. "Sarah, for once, think about what Van Helsing would do. What would your mother do?"

"My mother's dead,"

"I know, but if she was alive…"

"Michael! Listen to me! My mother is gone! Okay? She's never coming back and I'm never gonna see her again. That's it! End of story!"

"Sarah, you're not listening to me! If you want to know if Steel truly loves you, than you will trust me with these vials I found!...And it's not the end of the story Sarah. It's just the beginning. You'll see your mother again,"

Sarah looked at him with teary eyes. Suddenly, she felt something tug at her waist. She looked down, and saw that she was leaning against the rope. It was tugging.

"He's found her," she said. "Come on. Help me,"

Michael went behind Sarah, and they both started pulling the rope up. It was heavy, and the two friends gritted their teeth as they tried to pull the rope up. When they were finished, though, they couldn't believe their eyes. Instead of Taylor and Maria, there was a giant boulder. Their friends were gone


	10. Betrayal

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Sarah and Michael looked at each other in shock after what they saw instead of their friends. Something was wrong.

"We have to go down there," Sarah said after a long silence.

"There?" asked Michael. "How do you expect us to go down there? Fly?"

"Good idea,"

Michael went wide eyed.

"Are you crazy?" he asked in disbelief.

"I was only kidding," Sarah said. "We're going the same way Taylor has. Down the hole by rope,"

"I'm not going down there,"

"Oh?" Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Would you rather be eaten alive by Dracula's crazy brides and Paige?"

"...Yes,"

Sarah gave off a half-shruf and sighed.

"Well," she said. "Next time I see you, you'll either be dead, or a vampire. Have a nice life...or whatever's left of it,"

Sarah climbed down silently into the dark tunnel, while Michael folded his arms.

"Nice life. Huh!" he mummbled. "Whatever's left of it. Fat chance,"

Suddenly, Michael noticed it was growing darker, and sounds made him jump. He started to whimper, which grew into a groan.

"Sarah!" he shouted while climbing down. "Wait for me!"

* * *

Back in Vatican City, Van Helsing, Anna, and Carl were walking through the underground facility beneath the Vatican. They had taken shortcuts to get to Rome on time to catch up and se if they could find Sarah and the others. Anna was looking around everywhere and got lost once or twice. After the third time she got lost, Van Helsing linked his arm with hers.

"You're just like Sarah," he said rolling his eyes. "After you were kidnapped, I have to make sure she'd stopped wandering around the place,"

Anna smiled, remembering how Sarah used to get lost all the time when she was about 6 or 7. They met Cardinal Jinette.

"Van Helsing," he greeted. "How was your mission?"

"It's not over yet Jinette," Van Helsing explained. "In fact, it hasn't even started,"

"What happened?"

"We were captured...by Dracula. It seems he was brought back to life, and somehow Anna was too. Then, they forged a letter in Sarah's handwriting, tricking me and Carl while using Anna as bait. They were going to kill Sarah the next night, but she escaped. Along with 4 others. Michael, Maria, Taylor, and Steel,"

"Steel?" the cardinal seemed quite amused. "He is within this situation?"

"Yes. Remember before he and his family moved there a few weeks ago? I asked him to watch over her, and see if she was doing all right,"

"Yes, I remember. It almost seems like he's taken a liking for her,"

Jinette chuckled. Van Helsing looked at him strangely as if he were hiding something, but immedietly shook it off.

"Anna and Carl are going to stay here," he said. "I think they had enough of what's happened over the last few days. I'm going out there to find her,"

"You'll need some weapons," Jinette said. "In case, Dracula sends one of his servants after her. You can't be too careful,"

"Yes sir,"

Van Helsing walked briskly up to Carl's work desk for weapons. Only, to find that some were missing.

"Uh...Jinette," he said nearly shouting.

"Yes?" answered Jinette in an innocent way.

"Have you seen my crossbow?...And I had two pairs of grappling hook guns. Why is there only one?...And some vials of Glycerin 48 are missing. Where are they?"

"Who knows?"

Jinette had a twinkling in his eyes, with a hint of a smile.

"But I suggest you just take the weapons you have with you now, and take the extra grappling gun. After all, how hard is it to track down a thirteen year old child?"

"Very hard," mummbled Van Helsing. "Considering the kind of girl she is,"

Jinette laughed and clamped a hand on Van Helsing's back.

"Yes," he nodded in agreement. "She is not like any other child,"

Van Helsing nodded and smiled a bit.

"That's what makes her special," he said. "She's my friend,"

"And a friend to many others," Jinette said.

Van Helsing nodded and smiled, grinning ear to ear. He turned to go as Jinette called after him.

"Remember!" he shouted. "Be back before dark! A snow storm is predicted to hit soon!"

Before Van Helsing could even head out the door, Anna grabbed his arm.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said.

"Don't worry," Van Helsing carressed her cheek. "I'll only find her and bring her here,"

"It's not finding her I'm worried about,"

"What is Anna?"

"What if Dracula get's her before you do? Remember last time she was kidnapped?"

"Anna...If I saved Sarah from the clutches of Dracula once, I can do it again,"

* * *

Later, as it started to grow dark, Sarah and Michael were still in the tunnel trying to see where they were going. It grew pitch black, not even the light from Sarah's necklace could show them the way.

"Michael where are you?" came Sarah's voice. "I can't see a thing,"

"I'm on your right," Michael's voice sounded.

Sarah guided herself with her hands, only to feel dirt beneath her fingers.

"No, you idiot!" Michael stubbornly said. "Your other right!"

"Well, excuse me for feeling like a blind bat," Sarah griped feeling Michael's hand.

The two friends held their hands togethor so they wouldn't get lost. Silence filled them both. They didn't say a word to each other. Finally Sarah spoke up, guilt riding up in her voice.

"Hey Michael," she whispered. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just that I've been through a lot lately,"

"I'm sorry I pushed you through it. I know ever since Dracula was brought back to life, you haven't been thinking straight,"

"I know. I'm sorry...Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure,"

"Remember when I told you I was kidnapped by Dracula?"

"Yeah,"

"You didn't hear the whole story,"

"What do you mean?"

Sarah was silent. But even in darkness, Michael could tell that there were tears in Sarah's eyes.

"I never told Van Helsing this," she said softly. "Not even my mother. In fact, I never got the chance. I did something horrible at Castle Dracula,"

"What did you do?" Michael asked confused.

Again, silence filled the air, until sarah spoke again.

"After Van Helsing promised me that he would find me," Sarah started. "I was under the impression that he would before the next night. I was so sure of myself that he would find me,"

"But he did," Michael said confused again.

"That's not the point...I made a deal with Dracula,"

Michael stopped, and looked at Sarah. She didn't see him, but she could tell that he was shocked.

"You made a deal with Dracula?" he almost shouted. "What did you promise him?"

"I promised him that if Van Helsing didn't find me the next night by midnight," she said. "That I would willingly allow him to bite me, and become his daughter. So then, I would forever be placed with a curse,"

"His daughter!" shouted Michael. "That was very foolish of you Sarah Anne Valerious!"

"I know! I didn't know what I was thinking! I was desperate. I just... I thought I could get through it. But when it got close to midnight, I lost all hope,"

"And yet you haven't found it yet. I know what you're going through is hard, Sarah. You lost your mother. Dracula and his brides were brought back to life. Paige was turned into a vampire. You had to flee your home. And you had to send away the one you love."

Sarah felt tears stream down her face, and lumps in her throat were growing.

"I miss them," she said. "I miss Van Helsing. I miss Carl. I miss my mother. And I miss Steel. You don't know how it felt, Michael. He..."

"Loved you," Michael finished.

"I mean, I see him ,and I see sunlight, and clouds, it's like he know's what I want,"

"I know,"

Michael pulled Sarah into a hug, as she started to cry on his shoulder. Michael sighed. He did not want this to happen to his friend. Suddenly, a cold hand was on his shoulder. It was weird. It crawled through his skin.

"Sarah your hands are cold," he muttered.

Sarah looked up.

"It's not me," she protested. "I have black gloves on my hands,"

"Then if it's not your hands, then who..."

Suddenly, arms wrapped around the children tightly, almost choking them. They gasped and lit torches filled the dark tunnel. In the middle of them, stood Paige the Vampire with a torch in her hands. She was grinning, evilly.

"Hello Princess," she sneered as Sarah struggled.

Sarah looked around them and saw that Verona held Michael, and Aleera was cackling as she held her. She groaned and looked at Michael.

"Why do you have the normal one?" she asked.

"The masters son will be very much pleased to see you again, dear child," cooed Verona.

"Master's son?"

Verona didn't say anything else, as Sarah continued to struggle. Aleera held her tighter, knocking the air out of Sarah's lungs.

"Let us go!" she ordered.

"I wouldn't dear princess," Aleera sneered. "If anything happens to ruin this plan, your little village friend will never see the light of day again!"

Sarah gasped. They had Maria and Taylor hostage. Michael struggled and grunted.

"Sarah!" he shouted. "Do something,"

Sarah was still in a state of shock. The brides dragged the children as Paige led the waydown the dark tunnel. Michael continued to struggle, but Sarah hardly moved as he feet dragged in the dirt, leaving a trail. She kept thinking _"They have Maria and Taylor. They have Maria and Taylor"_. She had sworn to protect hem in any way possible. And she couldn't do anything about it. Her hands were covered, and she was held so tight, she could barely move to take the gloves off. Soon they came to a dark clearing lit with torches. Maria was huddled in a corner whimpering. The brides let go of the children, and Sarah and Michael ran toward Maria and took her in their arms.

"Oh!" Michael sighed. "Maria. Baby sister, are you all right?"

"We have to get out of here!" Maria screamed.

"We know," Sarah soothed Maria. "Don't worry. I'm sure Van Helsing will know that we're here. He always knows,"

"He tricked us Sarah! He tricked us!"

"Who did?"

"Who else?" said a voice.

Michael, Sarah, and Maria looked up, and saw a dark figure lurking in the shadows. As Michael held his sister in his arms, Sarah removed her gloves, stood up drawing her sword. It rang loudly in the darkness, and shone brightly through the flames. But she never expected who the stranger was. It was Taylor.

"Taylor?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Miss Valerious," he whispered as he walked over to Sarah. "Do you realize how beautiful you are?"

"Taylor, what are you doing?"

Taylor didn't speak another word. He merely just smiled and seemed to send a message to her mind.

_"You'll find out soon,"_ she heard his voice

Suddenly, Taylor pressed his lips against Sarah's, kissing her. And Sarah could hear sizzling. She pulled away, almost collapsing of shock. She regained her composure, as she tried to believe what had happened.

"It was _you_" she whispered.

"I'm sorry?" asked Taylor playfully smiling.

"IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG!"

(I'm gonna stop here. Read and Review please...no flames though)


	11. Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

"It was _**you**_ all along!" Sarah shouted, her voice ringing in the caves. "I cannot believe I trusted you. All this time, it was you!"

"Took you long enough to figure it out," Taylor jeered. "You were blinded by your sweetheart,"

Sarah shook her head in disbelief. She backed up against the wall with her friends. Michael had his arms around his horrified sister. She clutched at him so hard, it pinched his skin, digging in with her fingers. After all, if you were kidnapped by vampiric brides, you would clutch someone so hard it will also make them bleed.

"How?" she asked softly. "How did you do it?"

"It was simple, really, princess," Paige snorted while walking toward her with her brother. "For many years now, me and my brother have been practicing the art of dark magic,"

"That gave us an advantage," Taylor explained. "My new father has put a lot of terror on the village, no one seemed to notice what we were doing,"

"I can't believe this," Sarah shook her head.

"Believe it sister," Paige turned around and walked to the brides. "And you call yourself a huntress,"

Michael was starting to get angry. He got up and lunged himself at Taylor. But Taylor was ready. He threw Michael across the room hard, he hit his head on the wall, but not too hard. He fell to the ground, got up, and revealed a large cut above his left eye. Taylor looked back at Sarah, with a small smile, and an evil twinkle in his eye.

"Although," he whispered dangerously. "I must admit, Sarah Valerious, you are a very beautiful creature,"

Secretly, Sarah had taken off her gloves behind her back. While Taylor stared at her, she grabbed his wrist with her bare skin. Taylor's eyes turned bright red, and his fangs popped out as he screamed in agony. Sarah however didn't let go.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said through gritted teeth.

Roughly, Sarah pushed Taylor away to the ground. And soon, the battle between them had begun. As Taylor got up, Sarah whipped out her sword, letting it ring out in the dark tunnels and caves. Taylor smirked.

"Let the games begin," he jeered.

Sarah rolled her eyes, and scoffed. But suddenly, she turned on a smile. Taylor was confused. Why was she smiling? Well, his question was about to be answered. Sarah spun kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. But Taylor caught his balance. He took out his own sword, holding it in front of his face. They circled each other for a bit, until Sarah pointed behind him.

"Hey look!" she shouted. "Undead girls!"

"Huh?"

Taylor turned around, falling for Sarah's trick. She stabbed him in the back. He roared and turned around, as Sarah pulled it out. She set the tip in the ground and leaned on the hilt.

"You know," she said inspecting her nails. "For a vampire, you're pretty dumb. I can see why no one cares about you,"

Taylor growled, and raised his sword with a yell, bringing it down. Sarah reacted quickly, and clashed her sword with him, crossing the blades. They glared at each other through the sharp blades of their swords.

"Let's finish this," Taylor growled.

"Ladies first," Sarah said.

Sarah and Taylor started their sword fight. Taylor went down low, and swiped Sarah with his leg, tripping her. She fell to the ground, and Taylor lunged himself on her, bringing his blade in front of hers. She kneed him in the stomach, and got up as he doubled over. Sarah rolled on the ground, and flipped backwards to stand up. Taylor clutched his stomach groaning.

"Paige!" he said in a 'duh' tone. "A little assistance here,"

"Don't look at me brother," Paige said leaning against the wall. "You're fighting a warrior princess. You're gonna lose,"

"See?" asked Sarah. "Your sister doesn't even care as long as she lives her immortal life,"

Paige hissed, and tried to sprint toward the princess, but Verona held her back.

"Patience darling," she reasoned. "Let your brother have his fun,"

"Yeah," Maria piped up. "You wanna get canned after your brother get's staked by my friend,"

Michael went wide eyed and put a hand over his sisters mouth.

"When are you gonna learn from your _little_ brain to keep your **_big_** mouth shut!" he whispered in her ear.

Sarah punched Taylor in the gut, and doubled over again.

"And you call yourself a vampire," she whispered dangerously in his ear.

Paige had had enough. She growled in anger.

"That's it!" she exaggerated. "I am not gonna let my immortal brother get beaten by some spoiled-brat, princess!"

Paige lunged forward at Sarah knocking her and her sword to the ground. She held her down by her covered wrists, and Sarah started to struggle. Her legs were still free and she tried to kick Paige, but she couldn't. Taylor leaned over her, with a smile on his face, pulling gloves on his hands.

"What's the matter princess?" he asked playfully. "Weak?"

Sarah still struggled against the strength of Paige. Taylor bent down without hesitation, and took the glowing pendant of Sarah's necklace in his hand.

"I think I'll take this back," he said.

"I'm gonna kill you," Sarah whispered dangerously to Taylor's face.

"Hurry up Taylor!" shouted Paige. "Get the necklace off of her!..."

Paige turned to Sarah, baring her fangs and ice-blue eyes glwing at her.

"...Then let me taste her blood,"

Suddenly, Paige screamed in agony as a stake embedded her shoulder and got off Sarah. Sarah, knowing this was her chance to escape, puched Taylor away from her and got up. When she looked to where the stake had come from, she found Steel with a crossbow in his hands.

"How 'bout a nice stake instead of a wine glass of blood?" he asked narrowing his emerald eyes

"Steel!" Sarah shouted relieved.

"Come on!" Steel shouted gesturing for them to follow him. "Let's get out of here!"

Michael picked up his sister, and ran with his friends, as Sarah ran hand in hand with Steel, down the dark tunnels. Suddenly, they skidded in the dirt as they came across two paths.

"Which way?" asked Maria as Michael put her down.

"The one on the left is the right way," Steel pointed to the left tunnel. "The one on the right has a time bomb at the end, made of stakes and Glycerin 48,"

"Where'd you get Glycerin 48?" asked Sarah.

"I'll explain later. Now I got a plan. Sarah, switch shoes with Michael,"

Sarah put her hands onher hips, and gave a "Are-you-serious?" look at her cute guy.

"No way!" she protested. "Do you know how much I _paid_ for these boots?"

"Do you know how _small_ her feet are?" asked Michael, protseting too.

"You two wanna live don't you?" Steel reasoned. "Now switch!"

Knowing what they had to do, Sarah and Michael quickly switched their shoes togethor.

"Michael you've got big feet," Sarah grimaced as she tied the laces.

"Shut up Sarah," Michael spat.

"OK," Steel continued. "Sarah take this grappling hook gun," Steel handed the loaded piston to Sarah. "There's an opening in the left tunnel. Take Maria and wait for us there. Me and Michael are gonna go in the right tunnel, try and lure the vampires and blast 'em. We'll be out of here before then,"

"You be careful," Sarah warned.

"I will be,"

Sarah and Maria started to go, but Sarah turned back.

"Oh!" she said in realization. "I almost forgot,"

Sarah grabbed Steel by the collar, and pressed her lips against his. When they parted, they smiled at each other.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Anytime," Steel said dazed.

Sarah still smiled at him as she and Maria ran into the left tunnel. Steel was still dazed by the kiss, and Micharl groaned.

"Come on Romeo!" he shouted. "Sarah's boots are killing me,"

* * *

Sarah and Maria, meanwhile, had reached the end of the tunnel, and saw an opening about three feet above them. Sarah shot the grappling hook gun in the air, and a hook came out of the pistol, embedding itself into a nearby tree.

"Maria," she instructed. "I want you to hang on to the hilt, and stay where you are until I come up there,"

"What?" asked Maria.

But Sarah didn't answer her. She gave Maria a push, and she was flying up to the tree.

"SARAH!"

Sarah looked back to the long tunnel they had entered and conquered. She whipped out a stake behind her back, and narrowed her eyes.

"Come on Verona," she whispered. "I know you're here,"

"Very smart, princess," said a voice

Sarah looked in front of her, and saw Verona with a creepy smile on her face.

"You know," she stated. "If I were you Sarah, I would've come quietly with that necklace. I would've joined sides with Dracula,"

"Yeah?" asked Sarah. "If you were me, I'd be dead,"

"Really? I was just thinking the same thing,"

"Hey vampire!" shouted a voice.

Verona and Sarah looked up, and saw Maria staring down through the hole above Sarah, and a stake gun in her hand. She had a look of determination on her face.

"Go suck on your own life," she retorted

And with that, Maria pulled the trigger on the gun, shooting Verona in straight in the heart. She screamed in agony, and turned to dust. Sarah could only watch in amazement and looked up and her young 10 year old friend.

"Oh...my...gosh," she said silently. "THAT WAS **BRILLIANT**!"

* * *

Steel and Michael were crouched behind a huge boulder that was left on the side of the tunnel waiting.

"Are you sure this'll work?" asked Michael

"They're after Sarah aren't they?" asked Steel. "Trust me,"

Suddenly, they saw Aleera in front of the boulder. They crouched down lower, trying to maintain a low profile. Aleera looked around and sniffed the air. She exhaled deeply.

"I know you're here, princess," she jeered. "I saw your footsteps leading here,"

Steel, shook his head in a disapproving way. You think the vampire would be a bit more smarter. He tossed a small rock toward the end of the tunnel, where the time bomb was. Aleera, being the crazy and stupid vampire she was, heard the sound, and practically flew to the end.

"Now," Steel whispered.

The boys got out of their hiding place, and rolled the boulder in the middle of the tunnel blocking the way. Then they ran to where they had two paths, and bent down to the bomb-starter (A/N:I don't know what they're called. You know those things that start an explosion?) that was hidden behind another rock.

"I'm doing this," Michael protested. "Sarah owes me big-time for this,"

Steel just shrugged and let Michael do the job. He spit on his hands rubbed them togethor, and pushed down the lever. In a matter of seconds there was a loud explosion, and they took cover, as dirt from off the ground reached to ear they were, from the impact of the Glycerin 48.

"Let's go!" Steel shouted.

* * *

Sarah and Maria sat against the tree playing with their weapons a little. It had been like forever since they saw the boys. Suddenly, they heard coughing, and looked up to see the boys hacking their lungs out from the dust and dirt in the tunnels. They shook their heads.

"Men," they said in unison.

"What took you so long?" asked Maria.

"Just get me out of these boots!" Michael screamed in agony. "They're killing me!"

"Could be worse," Sarah said as she went to switch back shoes with Michael.

"How?"

"Could be the vampires killing you,"

"Point taken...but still. Your boots are killing me! I am never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever, ever **_INFINITY_**, wearing...your...boots!"

(A/N: Hope you liked this chappie!)


	12. Will you think of me?

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for a while. My brother is constantly on the computer and I hardly had time to type this chapter up. But now I do, and that's what matters. Enjoy this chapter)

Safely, the children rode through the blizzard-ready night. All of them were trying to get over that they were actually going through. Steel stopped in the middle of the woods. It was okay, because Sarah's necklace had stopped glowing for the time being. Sarah jumped off Moonlight, and started talking as Steel got off his horse.

"How were you able to find us?" she asked. "How did you get these weapons? I wanna know how, and I wanna know now!"

"All right all right," Steel put up his hands in defense. "Remember that night we had our first kiss?"

"Yeah, and we sang that really cool song?" asked Sarah.

"The same song which was kind of awkward for me to play and listen to you guys sing to it?" asked Michael.

"Shut up Michael," Steel glared. "Yes that song, and yes Sarah, that night. I followed Taylor after you 'banished' me, and it turned out he's following Dracula,"

"We know that part!" Maria said. "We just wanna know why"

"Maria, let me finish. The reason why he was able to get your necklace was that he injected you with some kind of non-lethal chemical into you and it somehow stopped the power. Then he injected me with something that caused me to make me burn when you kissed me. He did the same thing to himself to make it look like he was human all along, and that the necklace had no effect on him. Sarah, you've found out that he is one of the undead. Dracula's going to follow us and he will kill you slowly and painfully, while the rest of us die quickly,"

"I don't wanna die!" Maria started crying.

"Shh," Sarah put a finger to Maria's lips. "You've got to be quiet for a while. OK Maria?"

Maria nodded, and Sarah asked another question.

"How did you get the weapons?" she asked.

Steel sort of grinned at that.

"I found a short cut to the Vatican, and 'borrowed' some of Van Helsing's stuff,"

Sarah gaped in surprise, and laughed a little bit.

"He's gonna kill you when he finds out," she giggled.

"It was worth the risk," Steel said softly. "Sarah there was a catch to get the things I needed to save you guys…I had to tell Cardinal Jinette that you were close to Vatican City, and he told me that Van Helsing was on his way. All this time he was looking for you and everyone was so worried. He ordered me to bring you back to the Vatican and wait there so Van Helsing can keep you there until Dracula is destroyed,"

Sarah looked down a bit. Van Helsing couldn't do this to her. This was her fight. Not his. He already had his turn. And there was only one way to stop it.

"Steel I want you to take Michael and Maria and go to the Vatican," she ordered. "You'll be safe there. I'm gonna go find Dracula,"

"_What_!" shouted Michael and Steel.

"You wanna say that again?" asked Michael. "Cause either you just said you're gonna go find Dracula or my ears are full of earwax,"

"She said it Michael," Maria said, who was somehow calm about this.

"Sarah, you can't do this!" Steel almost shouted. "It's suicide,"

"Actually, I can't say I'm surprised, Steel," Michael put in. "It's not the first time she's done it. Last time, she made a deal with Dracula,"

"_**Michael**_!" screamed Maria and Sarah.

"You promised!" Sarah whined.

Steel's eyes went wide and white, and took Sarah by the shoulders, almost shaking them.

"You made a deal with Dracula?" he whispered loudly. "That's worse than death! Does Van Helsing know about this?"

Sarah sighed.

"No he doesn't," she said softly. "And he can't know. If he does, Dracula will use that memory against him and me. Besides, it's not like I had a choice,"

"Yes you did Sarah!" Steel protested. "You did have a choice!"

"What? Making a bet with Dracula or get my neck pierced? Either way's lethal,"

"Making a bet with Dracula is like selling your soul away: The very pure thing that lives inside of you. If I were you, I would've got myself bit!"

"So that I would become one of the creatures of the night? So that Dracula would have complete control over my life? So that Van Helsing would have to start hunting me down?"

"He would've spared you if you did Sarah,"

"How do you know?"

"Because Van Helsing only hunts the evil, never the innocent…and you know that,"

Sarah stared at Steel for the longest time. She sighed.

"I'm sorry Steel," she said finally. "I have to do this. Not just for you and Michael and Maria and Transylvania, but for my family. I can't go on without knowing that everyone will sleep safely at night with Dracula gone,"

"Sarah…"

"Steel, listen to me, I trust you to make the right decision but right now this is my decision, not yours,"

Steel sighed.

"Fine," he gave in. "But promise me you'll be back at the Vatican by midnight,"

"2 hours," Sarah understood. "That will give me enough time to kill him,"

"How are you going to kill him?" asked Michael.

"I don't know. But I know my necklace will protect me, and nothing will harm me…And now you've got to keep a promise for me,"

"What's that?" asked Steel.

Sarah was silent for a bit until she said. "Take care of Maria and Michael for me. And don't tell Van Helsing about what I did when Dracula took me away,"

Steel nodded.

"All right," he said.

The two stared at each other for a bit, and gave each other a kiss. Who knows? It could be the last kiss they'll ever share. When they were done, Sarah was about to take her separate way, when Steel called after her.

"Sarah!" he shouted out.

Sarah turned back, curious what Steel had to say.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You do know I love you. Right?" he asked. "More than anything,"

"Yeah…will you think of me?"

"…Always,"

* * *

So they went their separate ways: Sarah going to one side of the forest, while the others went the other way. Maria, who was tired to butt-bashing all day from her horse, got off, and decided to walk to the Vatican while the boys rode on their horses slowly. She looked down on the ground. Her best friend in the whole world was going to face the greatest terror that ever lived. Tears filled her eyes, but she was silent. She just kept wishing in her heart that Sarah would be okay. Suddenly, from above the snowy trees and the whistling wind, she heard a noise. Like a growl. It sounded familiar. 

"Steel," she called.

Steel and Michael stopped their horses and looked at the young one.

"What's wrong?" asked Steel

"I think I heard something,"

Normally, people would just ignore sounds in the woods. But in this situation anything was liable to be behind those ghastly trees that loomed over the young heroes. Steel jumped off his horse, and drew his gun out from his pocket. Michael did the same thing as Maria backed away into a tree, terrified of what was going to happen. Suddenly the growl sounded again, and everyone jumped.

"What was that?" asked Michael, almost whimpering.

"I don't know," Steel admitted. "Stand your ground, and don't move, or make any sounds,"

Michael nodded, and looked around. Suddenly, his bag that was on his horse, dropped and out comes a rat, squeaking and scurrying away. Maria yelped a bit, but regained her composure.

"Curly! Come back!" Michael called.

Obviously, Michael had brought his rats with him.

"Michael Grey! I cannot believe your rat scared the heck out of me," Maria scolded.

"It's not my rat!" Michael protested. "I'm just holding it for someone,"

"Oh yeah, right. Who else in all of Transylvania calls his rat a corny name like Curly?"

"Don't give me any of that crap Maria,"

"Well I just…"

Suddenly, Maria felt something bite her left leg really sharp, and she screamed so hard, she collapsed to the dirt floor. Steel and Michael backed away a bit. It was a werewolf. Big, black fur covered its whole body, and blood-stained fangs that were drooling at the mouth made drops in the 10 inch snow. Slowly from his back pocket, Steel pulled out a package of silver bullets, and loaded a few of them, while the werewolf stepped closer and closer to the boys. Maria was groveling on the ground in pain, crying, sweating like crazy, and slipping into unconsciousness. Steel planted his feet on the ground and whispered to Michael in a low voice.

"When I give the signal," he whispered. "Go to Maria and try and get her out of here,"

Michael nodded, and in a few moments, Steel lunged himself at the werewolf, wrestling it on the ground. Michael dashed forward to his sister, and tried to pick her up.

"Come on sis," he grunted, as he slung an arm over his shoulder. "Let's go,"

"We can't leave…without…Steel," Maria said softly.

"Stay with me Maria. We're gonna get you some help,"

For minutes, and what seemed like hours on end, Steel wrestled with the werewolf, so far not getting himself or killed for that matter. Suddenly, the werewolf picked him up by the collar, and threw him against a tree. He fell to the ground hard, but he was all right. However he was cornered by the werewolf, and there was no place to escape. The werewolf roared, and Steel closed his eyes, waiting for the icy breath of death to come knocking, but all he heard was a shot, and another roar. Opening his eyes, he saw a bloody wound on the werewolf, and it crawled away looking for a place to die. Steel looked to his right, and saw his old friend Van Helsing with the smoking gun in his hand.

"Van Helsing?" he asked as he came over,

"You all right?" asked Van Helsing as he helped Steel up.

"Maria's hurt,"

Van Helsing and Steel rushed over to the young girl. Michael was with her, a hand on his unconscious sister's sweaty forehead, and tears showing in his eyes.

"She's been bitten," he choked.

"She'll be fine," Van Helsing said as he scooped the young girl in his arms. "Carl's developed an antidote in case of emergencies. We'll give it to her once we get her safe and sound to the Vatican… Wait. Where's Sarah?"

"Uh…" Steel stuttered a bit. "She's already there. I told her to go there and she did what I asked. She'll meet us there,"

Van Helsing nodded as the boys followed him to the Vatican.

* * *

Once they got there, Van Helsing walked quickly through Vatican doors carrying little Maria in his arms. 

"Carl!" he shouted. "I need help!"

Carl, knowing Van Helsing did not like to be kept waiting, scurried into the halls. When he saw the young Maria in his arms and the boys by his side, he was completely mortified.

"What happened?" he asked.

"There's been an attack," Van Helsing explained as they walked through the secret doors to the order. "Go get your medicine. This girl's been bitten. And tell Sarah I'd like to see her,"

Carl stopped a bit.

"Van Helsing," he started. "Sarah's not here,"

"What are you talking about? Steel told me…_Steel_,"

Steel laughed a bit, nervously.

"Nice knowing you Steel," Michael casually.

"**Michael Joseph Grey**!" shouted a voice.

"Agh! It's my mom!" Michael cried as Steel looked behind him. "She's found me! She's gonna kill me,"

"Michael," Steel said tapping his friends shoulder. "I don't think that's your mom,"

Michael stopped cowering in fear, and looked behind him, to face Anna Valerious, hands on her hips, and that stern look on her face as usual.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-miss Valerious?" he stuttered. "You're _alive_?"

"Yes I am Michael," Anna said with a smile, and turned to Steel. "And you must be Steel. I've heard all about you. Quite the charmer,"

"Thank you Miss Valerious," Steel said looking down.

"Carl," Van Helsing said. "Take this girl and help her. Anna and I need to have a talk with these boys,"

The boys groaned, as Carl went away with the girl in his arms. Van Helsing led the boys and Anna to an underground room, with a few beds, in case somebody in the order needed to crash somewhere for a while. He pointed to two chairs by the fire place, and the boys sat there silent, as Anna and Van Helsing stood in front of them, arms folded.

"Where is she?" Van Helsing asked.

"I can't tell you," Steel said.

"And why not?"

"Because I promised Sarah that I wouldn't tell. She said she'd be back by midnight. She can take care of herself,"

"Steel, Sarah is in grave danger, and Dracula is out there possibly tracking her down even as we speak! Promise or not, you have to tell me,"

Steel didn't talk. And neither did Michael, who usually babbles like an idiot. Anna looked at Steel with a curious twinkle in his eye as Van Helsing talked to the boys trying to get them to tell him where Sarah is. She gasped in realization.

"Van Helsing…" she touched her true loves arm.

"What is it Anna?"

"Threatening them isn't going to solve anything,"

"But Anna…"

"They're in _love_, Van Helsing,"

Van Helsing looked at Anna with furrowed eyebrows, and then back at Steel. Sarah and Steel; Together; in love. Even though they were at a young age, it was meant to be. Van Helsing bent down next to Steel.

"Steel," he said softly. "You like Sarah don't you?"

Steel nodded.

"A lot?"

Again, Steel nodded.

"Have you ever kissed each other?"

Steel nodded again.

"You know Steel, that last kiss you had, I can make sure it won't be the last. You'd do anything to see her safe and sound, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," Steel said softly, nodding.

"I can bring her back Steel. I can make sure she's safe. And you can help me. All you have to do is tell me where she is,"

It was silent in the whole room. Steel was thinking it over for a bit.

"She's in the woods," he said finally. "She's going after Dracula,"


	13. Velkans Visit

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

"You what?" Van Helsing asked dangerously. "You let her go out there BY HERSELF?"

"I didn't know what else to do!" Steel protested. "Everything happened so fast! I tried to stop her, but she's got like this power to make people let her do what she wants. I couldn't control it,"

"Yes you could Steel! The first thing that would've come to your mind was get her here, where she would be safe. I ordered you to protect her!"

"You didn't order me to love her! That just makes it harder!"

Van Helsing sighed, practically giving up. He ran his fingers through his thick hair trying to think.

"This would never have happened if I hadn't fell for Dracula's trick," he said softly.

"What?" asked Michael.

Anna looked at the boy and almost winced, for the guilt of not letting these children where they were, was growing in her voice.

"Turns out that Dracula had me alive long before the manor was attacked," she explained. "And then he captured Van Helsing and Carl, the night before the brides attacked,"

Steel grwe wide eyed, and slammed a fist on the table in front of him.

"I should've let her go there!" he yelled.

"Steel, chill," Michael winced.

"She said she had a feeling that she could go there. I should've let her follow her intuitions!"

"It's all right Steel," Anna soothed the boy, trying to calm him. "You did the right thing,"

Michael raised his hand.

"Yes Michael?" Van Helsing answered.

"Can I go see my sister?" he asked. "I really need to. She must be in a lot of pain. I have to go make her feel better,"

"Carl should've given her the medicine by now," Van Helsing understood. "You may go see her. You, her, and Steel will stay here for the night. I will go back and find Sarah. Anna, you and Carl will watch them while I go get her,"

"But Van Helsing. There's a snowstorm going on right now. You can't be out there!"

"And nor should Sarah. I will take you to see your sister. She's in a different room. Come along,"

Van Helsing led the boys out of the sleeping area, and into the room next door, where Carl was tucking little Maria into the med bed. She was still unconsious, but her face got her color back, and her leg was bandaged up. Carl looked up to find the boys.

"She's doing fine," he explained. "I gave her the antidote, and some medicine to kill the pain on her leg. The wound is clean and bandaged up. She should be able to wake up in a few minutes,"

"Good," Van Helsing gave off a nod. "I leave in a minute. I'm just taking these boys to see their young friend. Will she be able to walk?"

"Yes, but she'll limp just a bit. Pain might strike now and then, but there should be no infection whatsoever. The girl is fine,"

Suddenly, there was a little moan from Maria. She was waking up. Michael rushed over to his little sisters side, and brushed damp hair out of her face.

"Maria?" he whispered as Van Helsing and Steel came up behind him. "Baby sister? Please say something,"

"Michael?" Maria whispered, cracking her eyes open a bit. "Is that you?"

"I thought I was going to lose you," Michael sighed with relief. "How do you feel?"

"Badly. Come closer. I have to tell you something,"

"What is it?" Michael edged a bit close.

"Not close enough. Closer..."

Michael edged closer.

"...Closer..."

Michael leaned into his sister, and once he did POW! Maria jabbed her right fist into his stomach, sitting upright, and with an angry look on her face. Van Helsing and Steel flinched when she started yelling at Michael. Carl just ducked under the bed.

"You no good brother of mine!" she snapped. "If you hadn't brought your stupid rat Curly with us, like mom said you shouldn't have, I wouldn't be in this condition, and you wouldn't have to feel my wrath!"

"_She's fine_," Michael whined clutching his stomach.

Steel and Van Helsing laughed, as Carl crawled out from under the bed.

"Are you all right?" Steel asked, containing his laughter.

"Peachy," Maria slumped back on her pillow

Suddenly, Maria noticed two different people in the room.

"Who are you two?" she asked.

"Gabriel Van Helsing, miss," Van Helsing smiled.

"The Van Helsing?"

"Yes Maria," Steel smiled. "The Van Helsing,"

"What happened?"

"You were bitten by a werewolf earlier tonight..."

"Werewolf! I'm gonna be a werewolf?"

"No," Carl explained. "We came up with an antidote, almost the same one identical to Dracula's cure back at his old castle,"

Maria sighed and closed her eyes a bit.

"Where's Sarah?" she asked. "Is she all right?"

There was no answer for her. No one knew where she was.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sarah walked through the dark and misty forest. The eerie silence in the air and the hard snow falling down made it impossible for her to concentrate on the where abouts of the undead. She knew Dracula would be here soon. But where, and how would he let her know he was there? Would he send Taylor or Paige to engage in another life-and-death battle with her? Or would he use his charm to let her know.

"_Sarah_..." The wind whistled her name.

The wind. It sounded familiar. It was a voice that haunted her dreams, even her daydreams, and when she would walk in rooms of the Valerious Manor. She closed her eyes.

"Where are you Dragulia?" she asked.

"Behind you," slithered the smooth voice.

Fearlessly, Sarah snapped her whole body around to face the foulest, most vile, most evilest creatures that would ever walk the earth: Count Dracula (A/N: No offense to Dracula fans. I have nothing against him, or anything. it's just that Sarah does )

"We meet again, young Valerious," he playfully said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sarah mocked. "Blah, blah, blah, cut to the chase will you? I just wanna know what you want from me,"

"Is that all?"

"...And kill you,"

Dracula smiled.

"I can understand that," he said.

"You should," Sarah said coldly. "You're the one who destroyed my entire family,"

"And yet you're the only one left," Dracula walked toward her. "You must've gotten very brave for the short amount of time that you've been alone,"

"Things change when you're alone,"

"And you should know that yourself. You and friends killed my brides,"

"We did what we had to do. And as usual, you still haven't answered my question: What do you want from me?"

"And as usual, you should know by now. I need that necklace to complete the eclipse,"

"Hmmm...how about...no. Drop dead already Dracula. What makes you think I'm going to give you the necklace, when I know you'll use it to bring down all of the world to its knees?"

"Because taking it will be so easy,"

"What?"

Suddenly, without warning, Dracula sprang forward, grabbed Sarah around the throat, and held her about 7 feet off the ground against the tree. She could hardly breathe. She felt the air inside her lungs were penetrating, and crushing into tiny little pieces. And she could feel something odd. Dracula had his bare hands around her neck.

"Impossible!" she was able to breathe out.

"Anything is possible, Sarah Valerious!" screeched Dracula. "Even with this necklace safe around your neck, it will **NEVER** protect you from me! I've grown more powerful than you can ever imagine. So powerful, not even werewolves can stop me! Not even Van Helsing! And by the time he reaches you, he won't be able to save you from my grasp,"

Sarah, still gasping for air, grew her eyes wider than before. Dracula smiled an evil smile.

"Yes, my dear," he said. "He's coming for you. Too bad you'll already be dead, by the time he reaches you. And I'm sure he'll be very upset when they bury your body in the ground,"

Dracula tightened his grip around the girls neck, ready to rip off the necklace from her throat. Sarah could feel the darkness swarm in around her, and tears poored down her cheeks.

"But don't worry young princess," Dracula soothed. "I'll be able to bring you back for my son,"

"Tell your son he's a load of crap," Sarah sneered.

After that, Sarah spat in Draculas face of pure hatred: A task she wanted to do for the longest time. As her eyes darkened, Dracula ripped the necklace off, it's glow disappearing. Her body felt cold as she fell, and the last thing she heard before falling into the darkness, was a gunshot, and someone familiar calling her name.

* * *

_Sarah woke up to find herself in a ballroom, standing in the same outfit she had been before her first visit to Castle Dracula. The white spaghetti strap dress, the white high heeled shoes, the white mask with the diamonds bordering it, and her hair up, with strands falling down her face. Music, not like the one at the All Hallows Eve ball, was playing, but the odd thing was there was no musicians. No dancers even. She was by herself. Alone. The music sent peace through her mind. The bells and harp sent her off to dreamland, as the violins magically put a spell on her body to float around the smooth marble like floor. The music though, sounded familiar. And then it came to her. The song she and Steel sang togethor._

**_(A/N: Just try to imagine "Broken" being played by harps and bells, and violins. It's that easy!)_**

_"You've grown up,"said a familiar voice._

_Sarah stopped, and stood to face a person she never thought she'd see again. It was her Uncle Velkan. In his usual brown vest with a white shirt, brown pants, and black boots._

_"Uncle," she whispered with tears._

_Sarah ran forward toward her uncle as he held out open arms. She hugged him tightly._

_"Oh," she started crying. "I'm so happy to see you...Hold it. Am I dead?"_

_Velkan smiled._

_"Nearly," he said. "But you'll be alive and well soon,"_

_"Why? Wouldn't life be just easier if I was out of the way?"_

_"No, my dear girl. That's just Dracula playing with your mind, telling you that you'd live happily ever after without a life. Come. There's something I want to show you. Close your eyes for a moment,"_

_Sarah did as he uncle told her to do, and in a moment, she could hear machinery noises, and sparks flying off. Opening her eyes, she found herself in Castle Frankenstein. Her uncle had her hand in his, and her clothes were changed from the dress, to her regular outfit. Suddenly they heard voices._

_"I send you on a simple errand to find out who our new visitor is," Sarah heard Dracula. "You had to stop for a little chat with your sister,"_

_"Leave her out of this Count," she then heard a very exhausted Uncle Velkan. "She doesn't know your secret. And I am soon to take it to my grave,"_

_Suddenly, Sarah saw Dracula walking toward a platform with Dwergi piled on it, trying to get something out, with a weak Velkan staggering behind him._

_"Uncle..." Sarah whispered._

_"It's all right, my niece," the Ghost of Velkan reassured. "My heart is at ease now. This is just a memory played again. I just want you to hear something,"_

_"Don't wish for death so quickly," Dracula said. "I intend for you to be quite useful,"_

_"I would rather die than help you!" spat the Velkan-from-before._

_"Oh, don't be boring. Everyone who says that dies. Besides, tonight, after the final stroke of midnight, you will have no choice, but to obey me,"_

_Sarah saw the Dwergi throw down the thing that was on the platform, and saw that it was a skelton. The Velkan-from-before studied it._

_"Look familiar?" sneered Dracula._

_:...Father?" Velkan whispered to himself._

_Sarah gasped, and buried her face into the Ghost of Velkan, as she heard struggles._

_"Nooo!" shouted Velkan, followed by a choke._

_"He proved useless!" snapped Dracula. "But I'm hoping with werewolf venom running through your veins, you will be of greater benefit!"_

_There were more struggles that Sarah heard from Velkan-from-before, as the Dwergi got him ready._

_"I may have failed to kill you Count!" he shouted. "But my sister will not!"_

_"And what of your niece!" shouted back Dracula. "What will the little brat do if her mother failed?"_

_"...Sarah will never fail!"_

_After those words were said, and struck at Sarah's heart, the room grew dark, and lighted up back into the ballroom. She looked up at her Uncle Velkan._

_"You see Sarah?" he said. "Dracula will never win, as long as you don't fall into his grasp, and stay pure hearted...that is why I must send you back. You'll wake up safe and sound in the complany of friends. And try not to do what everyone tells you to do. Just follow your heart,"_

_Sarah gave a hug to her Uncle._

_"I'll miss you Uncle Velkan," she whispered._

_"I'll miss you too,"_

_Sarah sniffed a bit, and smiled._

_"I will see you again," she repeated the words her mother used before._

_Velkan returned the smile, and Sarah closed her eyes to rest again, as she was once again taken into darkness, so she could go back to the real world._

(A/N: She's that close everyone! They'll be happy moments in the next chapter: i.e...An evening of romance with Steel and Sarah before the sun rises, and a family reunion)


	14. Defying Gravity

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Van Helsing sat beside the bed that Sarah laid in, still and quiet. A few hours ago, he just brought her in from the bitter cold, after he managed to get Dracula away from her. When he brought her inside the order, he could never forget the look on Steel, and Anna's faces. Especially Anna's. When she saw her daughters limp form in Van Helsings arms, she broke down crying. Later she was given medicine to calm her down, and she fell asleep in a different room. Steel was just quiet, with tears streaming down his face. They moved Maria into a different room so Sarah could have the bed in the med room. And there Van Helsing sat quiet, making sure she was okay and warm. He roasted up a roaring fire next to her bed, and put in hot water bottles under the covers. He stayed awake, even as the other order members went out for the night so they could be rested up for the next morning. His only wish was that he'd gotten there in time.

"Van Helsing?" asked a voice.

Van Helsing turned around and saw Steel, tired, and red-eyed from tears of sadness.

"Steel?" he asked. "It's two in the morning. What is it?"

"I found this,"

Steel opened up his fist to reveal a necklace. It was kind of like the one Sarah had, but it had a sun and a cloud. Van Helsing took it and examined it.

"Where did you find this?" he asked.

"I accidently took Taylors bag by mistake and found this in the pocket in front," Steel explained.

Van Helsing thought for a moment and nodded.

"We may need this," he said. "You're in charge of watching it,"

Van Helsing gave the necklace back to Steel, and he looked back to watch Sarah. Steel watched too, the pain of seeing her like that growing inside him.

"Is she gonna be all right?" he asked.

"The only damage that Dracula's done to her is a very purple bruise on her neck, and temporary voice loss," Van Helsing said softly.

"Wake me when she wakes up. Please. I want to see her eyes,"

Van Helsing smiled.

"As long as you're not that tired. But I really do suggest that you get some rest Steel. You, Sarah, Michael, and Maria have been through a very tough ordeal,"

Steel nodded and left the dark room. Van Helsing sighed as Sarah breathed slowly and steadily in her sleep. Getting up, he went through her backpack, trying to look for something: A hairbrush (like she ever used it), first aid kit in case Maria got hurt or something, the book they borrowed from the library...A ha! The doll he had given her before he left the last time he saw her. Walking back to her bed, he laid the doll beside her. Once he did, as though Sarah knew her doll was with her, she moved her arm, wrapping it around the precious French doll.

"If only I had gotten to you in time," Van Helsing whispered as he closed his eyes.

"You already did," said a very soft voice.

Van Helsing looked up, and saw Sarah opening her eyes slowly. Fluttering them, she let out a sigh of relief. She was alive. Van Helsing looked like he was gonna cry, but he didn't show it entirely.

"You're all right," he said putting a hand on her head.

"What happened?" Sarah said trying to sit up. "I can't remember anything."

"Lay back down. As usual, you were lucky,"

"Oh really?" Sarah laid back down.

"I just saved you from getting the air forced out of you,"

"Thanks...My voice...What's wrong with my voice?"

"It's only temporary. The best thing to do to get it back faster, is to not talk,"

"Where have I heard that before?"

Van Helsing laughed. Sarah just smiled, until she realized something was missing. She felt her neck for anything. Nothing.

"The necklace!" she whispered loudly. "He took it! We've got to find it!"

Sarah tried to get out of bed, but Van Helsing held her down.

"Sarah," he said. "You were almost killed by one of the most feared vampires of the world. If you go out there, he'll kill you instantly just by looking into your eyes,"

"But the eclipse!" Sarah protested. "It's going to happen at midnight,"

"With or without the necklace Sarah, he won't accomplish what he needs,"

"But..."

"There's another piece to the puzzle that he doesn't have,"

Sarah stopped protesting, and laid back down, still looking at Van Helsing.

"Taylor left his backpack, and took Steel's by mistake, and Steel found a necklace with a sun and a cloud. It could be something that Dracula forgot about,"

"Oh my gosh," Sarah remembered. "They made it here safely? Are they all right? Can I see them?"

"Sarah, Sarah. They're fine. You can't see them right now. It's 2:30 in the morning. They're sleeping. Maria had a little accident..."

"Define '_little_',"

Van Helsing was surprised. Even though her voice was barely gone fom the choke, he could hear the defiance in her voice. He had never seen her like this. It was almost like she didn't care about her life anymore. But he figured he could give her the truth. It was one of the very few things she needed.

"I want you to know that I got to them in time, and they are fine," he said cautiously. "Maria was bitten..."

"What?" Sarah interuppted

"Let me finish. She's fine. We cured her, and she'll be good as new in the morning,"

Sarah relaxed a bit, sinking her head more into her pillow. Van Helsing looked at her sympathetically.

"You really thought about them more than yourself," he said. "Your one thought was to get them here safe and sound...You even thought more about Steel than you ever did,"

"You know about that?" Sarah asked.

Van Helsing smiled.

"It was the same story your mother and I had togethor," he explained. "The hunter is assigned to protect the princess, and they fall in love. I wasn't the only one who saved your life,"

"He told you didn't he?" Sarah asked

Van Helsing nodded.

"Well...I'm glad he broke that promise,"

Sarah smirked as she closed her eyes to rest. Van Helsing got up from his chair, stroking her hair as he went up.

"Rest," he said as he was walking out. "When you wake up, some people will be very happy to see you,"

"Van Helsing..." Sarah said.

"Yes?"

"...Thank You,"

Van Helsing smiled, gave off a nod, and closed the door slightly. Sarah rested her eyes for a while. Boy, was she glad that she had very good friends with her. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard the door open. Opening her eyes again, there was Steel walking towards her.

"Sarah!" he whispered loudly.

"Steel!" Sarah whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

For a few moments, the couple stayed like that togethor. Steel cried silent tears, and let them drop on Sarah's shoulder.

"You scared me to death," he said.

"Really?" Sarah asked. "You don't look half bad for a dead guy,"

Steel laughed a bit.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah Valerious," Steel smiled brightly. "How would you like to spend a night in Rome with me until the sun rises?"

Sarah smiled back at him.

"If I was in any shape to go on a date, Steel, I would love to," she explained. "But Van Helsing told me to get some rest,"

"Sarah...I know. I want the best for you. But I really would be happy if you spent just one night with me...No more vampires, werewolves, magic necklaces...Put all those things away for a while, and just spend a night in Rome with me,"

Sarah thought about it for a moment...Then after a few minutes, she smiled a mischievious grin.

"Let's go," she said in her raspy voice

* * *

About three in the morning, Steel and Sarah managed to slip out of the Vatican and into the beautiful city of Rome. Taking Steel's horse, Hamlet, Steel guided them through the cobble stone streets, with his arms wrapped around Sarah in front of him. But Steel had a secret. The necklace he found was around his neck, but he was going to tell Sarah soon. When the time was right. Soon they stopped in front of a frozen lake. When Steel helped her down from his horse, Sarah looked at the surroundings. The previous blizzard had left a blanket of snow that was untouched by human hands, except them. The lake was frozen solid, and smooth like marble. Sarah heard Steel cough in his throat, and she turned to him. He held up two pairs of ice skates. Sarah's smile brightened up, and she walked slowly to him, tears shining in her eyes. Putting her arms around his neck, she whispered in his ear

"_Je amour tous_," she spoke in French

Steel smirked.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"I love you," Sarah whispered

Looking deep into each others eyes, they were lost in the wonderous snow-blanketed world. Sarah closed her eyes, breathing the air, as Steel leaned forward. He kissed her longingly on the lips. But suddenly, a powerful urge inside of Sarah grew. Steel felt it too, and their kiss kept still as it came, until the power inside of them hurt. Backing away from each other, breaking the kiss, the two started gasping for air.

"You okay?" Steel breathed.

"I'm fine," Sarah said her voice better, and louder.

Steel widened his eyes.

"Your voice!" he exclaimed. "It's back!"

Sarah stopped what she was doing and took a moment to take that in.

"And your bruise! It's gone too!"

"How?" she asked. "It can't have gotten better in less than 2 hours,"

Steel started thinking quickly about the possibilities. Suddenly, the solution came to his mind like lightning bolts in his head. He unbuttoned the first button if his shirt and revealed the necklace of the sun and cloud. It was glowing but it was fading. Something different was about this necklace.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he said.

"It's okay," Sarah reassured. "Van Helsing filled me in,"

"Oh...Don't you think we should go back and find out what's up with this?"

"What time does the sun rise?"

"In three hours,"

"We'll go before then. When we get there we can watch the sun come up," Sarah spun in circles as she said this. "Then we can bravely sneak inside, sneak back into our rooms, and no one will notice we were gone during our night of romance,"

Steel raised an eyebrow.

"OK," he started. "Not that I think that isn't a great idea or anything but, how much did Dracula choke you?"

"Come on Steel. This one of the very few best things thats ever happened to me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"I know. But Van Helsing has a way of finding out things, and..."

Steel stopped.

"What?" asked Sarah softly after a moment of silence.

"Did you know that Van Helsing had nightmares?"

"Yes," Sarah nodded

"He stays up at night looking after the headquarters, so he doesn't go back to sleep. I know that. Once, my father had to work late so I had to sleep in the quarters downstairs. I woke up in the middle of the night and found Van Helsing standing at the top of the Vatican, and he and I talked for a while. That's how I knew,"

"Well if he finds out sooner than we planned, I'll say it was my idea to sneak out...Now. Didn't we come out here to have a good time?'

Steel smiled, and quickly the two put on their ice skates. There was not a moment to lose. Sarah finished first, and leapt onto the ice doing a figure eight, as Steel sakted softly on the ice, following her until he took her arms gently. Guiding her, they glided togethor as they could hear music play in their minds.

(A/N: I don't own "This I promise you" by N Sync...yeah, I know they suck, but my friends little sister listens to them, and I thought this was a good song for our little couple)

_When the visions around you,  
Bring tears to your eyes  
And all that surround you,  
Are secrets and lies  
I'll be your strength,  
I'll give you hope,  
Keeping your faith when it's gone  
The one you should call,  
Was standing here all along.._

_And I will take  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

_I've loved you forever,  
In lifetimes before  
And I promise you never...  
Will you hurt anymore  
I give you my word  
I give you my heart (give you my heart)  
This is a battle we've won  
And with this vow,  
Forever has now begun..._

_Just close your eyes (close your eyes)  
Each loving day (each loving day)  
I know this feeling won't go away (no..)  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you..  
This I promise you.._

_Over and over I fall (over and over I fall)  
When I hear you call  
Without you in my life baby  
I just wouldn't be living at all..._

_And I will take (I will take you in my arms)  
You in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong (right where you belong)  
Till the day my life is through  
This I promise you baby_

_Just close your eyes(Each loving day (each loving day)  
I know this feeling won't go away (no..)  
Every word I say is true  
This I promise you  
Every word I say is true  
This I promise you_

_Ooh, I promise you..._

_

* * *

_

As soon as they two grew tired of skating, Steel laid down a blanket against the base of a tree, and he and Sarah laid beside each other looking at the sky, as their stars were slowly fading.

"You know what I'm thinking?" asked Steel

"What?" smiled Sarah

"That each one of those stars up there is a spot for every person's wish,"

"Steel. We've all made wishes on stars. I'm pretty sure you've made a wish on all them,"

"Not all of them. Just one. You have to make one wish. And you can only make it twice on the same star,"

"..I've never heard that before. Have you made a wish on the same star twice before?"

"Yep,"

"Did you get it?"

"Oh yeah,"

Steel kissed Sarah on top of the forehead, and she snuggled in closer to him. Sighing, she closed her eyes, resting.

"You know what I wish?" she asked

"What?" asked Steel.

"That I could fly up there, touch one of those stars, and use it to make my wish,"

"..Why don't you?"

"What are you saying?"

Sarah sat up as Steel dug into his bag, and took out two belts. Each one of them had a button on the side. Sarah looked at them curiously.

"What is this?" she asked.

"You wanna find out?" Steel said with a grin.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, and pointed a finger at Steel as he and Sarah each put a belt on

"OK," she said. "That look is creeping me out. What are you up to?"

"Nothing," Steel laughed. "It's perfectly fine. Carl invented it a few months ago,"

"If Carl invented it, then I know it's not safe,"

"Don't worry. I tested it myself. Just close your eyes for a moment,"

Sarah closed her eyes slowly as Steel wrapped his arms around her waist tightly. For a moment, she felt nothing. Then suddenly, she could feel her feet slowly drift off upward. She clung on tightly to Steel, and kept her eyes closed.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Don't worry," Steel whispered. "I'll tell you when to open them,"

Sarah kept her eyes tightly shut, fearing what was happening to them. She could feel Steel's hand on her shoulder for comfort.

"OK," he whispered. "You can open your eyes now,"

Slowly, Sarah opened her eyes, and saw that they were off the ground. Flying. Were they flying? Were they actually flying? Gasping, she grabbed onto Steel tightly. Steel laughed silently.

"It's okay," he whispered. "I'm gonna let you go,"

"Steel don't," Sraah whispered, frightened.

"Do you trust me?"

Sarah stared into Steel's emerald eyes and nodded.

"OK. On the count of three, we're gonna let go of each other. One...Two...Three,"

They abruptly let go each other, and Sarah snapped her eyes shut waiting for her fall. Nothing happened. Opening her eyes, she was still off the ground, floating. Steel, who was also flying, smiled at her.

"How can this be possible?" she asked.

"With Carl's inventions, anything's possible," Steel smiled as he flew toward her.

Sarah smiled, giggling. She should've known that.

"Dracula better be ready the next time he's sees me." she warned.

Sarah, flying high into the air, shouted back to Steel.

"Take a message back to those who'll ground me," she shouted playfully.

"What message is that, my dear lady?" asked Steel

Sarah, with a twinkle in her eye, smiled.

"You tell them how I'm defying gravity," she said.

(A/N: For those of you who don't know, that was kind of a verse from the song "Defying Gravity" from the Musical, "Wicked", which I'll be seeing on stage very soon! I am so happy!)

* * *

Shortly before the sun rose, Steel and Sarah rode back to the Vatican. Quietly putting Hamlet away, they raced to the stables, and through a secret stairway which led to the very top of the Vatican to watch the sunrise. The view from the hidden balcony was intense. It was like you could see all of Rome and the rest of the world. Steel wrapped his arms around her and watched it rise.

"You know," Sarah said. "This is one of the very few sunrises I've seen in my entire life,"

"You've never seen a sunrise all the time?" asked Steel.

"No," Sarah shook her head. "For as long as I can remember, the only thing I've woken up to was grey skies and snow falling. With Dracula alive, it was always like that,"

Steel turned Sarah around slowly, and put a hand on her cheek.

"When this is all over," he started. "This sunrise we're seeing now, won't be the last,"

Sarah smiled, and they shared a kiss, until they heard voices from down below.

"Look at it Michael!" shouted Maria's voice. "Isn't it the most beautiful sunrise you've ever seen?"

"Yeah, sure," Michael said casually. "It's great,"

Steel and Sarah looked down and saw Michael and Maria down on the snow covered ground in the courtyard. Maria was watching the sun rise, while Michael was forming a snowball. Sarah smiled, glad to see her friends safe and sound. While the watched, Michael threw a snowball at Maria, hitting her in the head.

"Hey!" Maria turned around. "That hurt!"

"Heads up Maria," grinned Michael.

Steel and Sarah stared at each other.

"Should we?" he asked grinning.

"After you," Sraah bowed slightly waving a hand off the blacony.

Taking each others hand, they jumped onto the ledge, and jumped onto the roof, sliding on the snow, and jumping off into the air, landing onto the ground.

"Michael what did I tell you about you hurting Maria?" Sarah asked playfully, putting her hands on her hips.

Michael and Maria stopped throwing snowballs at each other, and smiled as they saw their royal friend, safe and in one piece. Maria ran up to Sarah and hugged her.

"Sarah!" she cried. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"So did I, my young friend," Sarah smiled. "I thought you were gonna be a werewolf?"

"Are you kidding? Not this girl. Beisdes, Carl and Van Helsing cured me,"

'I know.He told me when I woke up. I am so glad you're all right,"

"Hey!" Michael protested. "Don't I get some royal love?"

Sarah smiled and hugged Michael.

"Of course you do," she said. "But first..."

Without warning, Steel plunged a snowball down Michael's back. Michael let out a yelp, and started dancing around, while the other children laughed. Soon, the whil fiasco became a snowball fight. Boys aganist girls. Poor Michael never got the chance to throw one, beacause everytime he tried to throw one, he'd always get hit.Maria only got hit a couple of times, while Steel and Sarah never got hit once. When they were just in the middle of their fun a voice sounded.

"**Maria and Sarah what are you doing out of bed!**" shouted a fierce voice.

Everyone turned around as Steel and Michael accidently, let go of their snowballs and into the face of Van Helsing.. They boys gasped, and ducked behind the fort they built for the snowball battle. Sarah casually got up in front of Van Helsing.

"I can explain," she said calmly.

"_Explain_?" growled Van Helsing. "You almost gave me heart attack the first time you snuck out of bed. This time I nearly died! Do you know what that did to me to find you not there? Where were you? Where did you..."

"Mom?" Sarah whispered looking past Van Helsing.

Van Helsing turned around, and saw Anna standing at the bottem of the stairway, tears in her eyes. Sarah couldn't believe it. She was alive. Her mother was alive. Walking slowly at first, she started to cry softly, then running towards her, she hugged her tightly, sobbing with happiness. This was too good to be true. She looked up at her Mother, tears streaming fast down her cheeks.

"I love you," Sarah whispered.

"I saw you again," Anna cried with happiness improvising her famous words.

And thus, the Valerious family was reunited.

(A/N: Sniff. That was so beautiful. I'm in tears now...update please)


	15. A Plan in Motion

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Sarah and Anna sat on the steps getting reaccquanted. They were still smiling and crying, but other than that, they were happy. And that was the way Van Helsing wanted them to be.

"Oh my goodness, child," Anna cupped her hands under Sarah's chin. "I can't believe you crossed half of Europe to get here. You came in one piece,"

"Didn't you believe I could do it?" asked Sarah.

"Of course I did. It's just...I was so worried about you. So were Carl and Van Helsing. Before the brides attacked the manor, he came to Transylania..."

"What?" exclaimed Sarah. "Well--I--How--Why didn't he come to the manor,"

"He came late. And he was told to meet in Castle Frankenstein,"

Sarah thought about it a moment.

"And then Dracula captured you guys," she finished. "That would probably explain why the doors were locked,"

"I'm just glad you're all right," Anna hugged her daughter. "You nearly scared me to death when you were brought in,"

"What happened?"

"Well... I was waiting, and it was almost midnight by the time one of the monks announced that Van Helsing had arrived with you," Anna laughed a bit. "I couldn't wait to see the look on your face, when you saw me... But then I heard Van Helsing running down the steps, and I knew something was wrong. Next thing I know, he was telling me the whole story. How he followed your footprints, how Dracula nearly killed you, and how your pulse seemed to stop for but a moment on his way here. I fell asleep, and I woke up to hear Van Helsing shouting that both you and Steel were gone,"

Sarah took a deep breath.

"I did die for a moment mother," she said softly. "When I was unconsious, I had a dream,"

"What happened?" asked Anna.

"I was at Vilkova Palace, and I was alone. I heard music, and it was so beautiful, mother, I had to dance. Then Uncle Velkan came,"

Anna was dumbstruck. She laughed with happiness and tears in her eyes.

"You saw him?" she asked softly.

"Yes," answered Sarah. "He showed me what happened between him and Dracula, and I found out what happened to grandfather,"

Anna was silent for a moment.

"How?" she asked finally.

"Dracula killed him," Sarah said. "He also told me that I have to kill Dracula. I'm going after him tonight,"

Anna snapped a look at her daughter.

"No," she said defiantly. "I'm not allowing it,"

Anna got up and walked up the steps to go inside, as Sarah followed her.

"Mother, I _have_ to!" she exclaimed. "I'm part of the prophecy! I'm the only one who can stop this,"

"We're staying in Rome for the night," Anna ignored her daughters reasoning.

"Mother, just listen! 400 years ago Anne Valerious, our ancestor, had the very same necklace. The Blood Eclipse happened when she existed. She was going to stop Dracula,"

"_Was_?" Anna truned around to face Sarah.

"She fell ill when she was prisoner, and died at home before she could go. Mom, I'm the next person. Me and Steel are more than capapble of taking care of ourselves. We'll take Carl's flying inventions. They're 50 times faster than Transylvanian horses. We could get there before noon,"

"**I AM NOT LETTING YOU GO**!...Sarah I can't bear to see you dead. I thought I lost you last night,"

"And I thought I lost you!" Sarah shouted. "...Mom, do you realize how lonely I was when you died? Van Helsing had to leave me. He had orders. He wanted to take me with him, but he couldn't. I had no one, mom. I was so scared. I didn't know how I could live on,"

Anna looked at her daughter as tears streamed down her face. She hugged her tightly.

"I know darling," shw whispered. "I'm sorry,"

* * *

Taylor stood in front of his father in the cold and frozen foyer of Castle Dracula. His sister, Paige, hung upside down from the rafters filing her nails. Dracula's face could never have been more angrier. He smashed wine glasses full of blood against the walls.

"Curse that Van Helsing!" he screeched. "One more tight sqeeze, and that girls life would've been mine!"

"You lost my bride," Taylor mummbled.

"Patience, my young son. The eclipse isn't until tonight. I will make sure you are wed before then,"

"Yeah," Paige scoffed as she flew down. "Like that'll ever happened. If that girl stays in Rome with Van Helsing, she's untouchable. Even without the necklace,"

Dracula sighed. His vampiric daughter was right. But then, suddenly, a flash of thoughts came across his mind.

"Taylor," he said slowly. "Do you have the necklace?"

"Which one?" asked Taylor.

"The one with the sun and cloud,"

"I have it,"

"Are you sure?"

Taylor furrowed his eyebrows, and flew towards his pack, which was lying against the wall, at the end of the foyer. Immedietly, he started going through it, only to find that it was not his stuff. And the necklace they had before was gone, and into the hands of Van Helsing, and the Valerious duo.

"_Those vermin_," hissed Paige as she saw that her brother was emty handed. "We can't complete the process without that wretched piece of jewlrey,"

"Actually," Dracula said slowly. "We can...Paige...," Dracula smiled at the evil girl. "My dear, sweet Paige...how would you like to have a husband?"

(Uh-Oh. Something's not gonna be right...But you'll have to wait. This is all I can give you. I gotta run. Basically 3/4's of the school is getting togethor and show that we care about our electives WHICH THEY'RE TRYING TO CUT OFF! Sorry it had to be short. I'll post more soon! Wish me luck!)


	16. Anne Minerva Valerious

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated. I've been busy being a stupid enchanted fork in our musical "Beauty and the Beast". But hey, it was fun. I got to wear this really sweet dress in the end, and kick the baker dude in the shins, after he thought I stole Maurice's donut...Sigh...Good times)

Sarah sat on her bed packing her things for the flight to go and defeat Dracula once and for all. In her mind, she was saying _What am I thinking? This is suicide! I can't kill Dracula! He's more powerful than me_. She sighed, and laid her her head on her pillow closing her eyes a bit. Suddenly, a voice sounded.

"_Don't be afraid_," it said.

Sarah snapped her eyes open, and sat up straight. Where did it come from? She certainly didn't say anything or think of anything around that phrase. But this voice sounded angelic, and young and almost similar to her own voice. But her thoughts were interuppted by a knock.

"Come in," she said softly.

The door opened to reveal Van Helsing with a look on his face. Sarah started to grow a little nervous.

"What'd I do this time?" she asked.

Van Helsing smiled a bit.

"Nothing," he said as he sat down next to her. "I'm just...still getting over what Steel said about the necklace Taylor left behind,"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded in agreement. "Me too. Considering it was me the power was used on,"

Van Helsing nodded too, and they were silent for a bit.

"Did you..." Sarah started. "...Nah, forget it,"

"Did I what?" asked Van Helsing.

Sarah stared at Van Helsing for a bit. There was tears in her eyes when she looked at him. It was the same look she gave him the day of her mothers funeral.

"Did you ever miss me?" she asked.

Van Helsing looked at Sarah bewildered.

"Of course I did," he said softly. "Sarah why would you think something like that?"

Sarah shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Van Helsing looked at her sternly.

"Did Dracula say something to you?" he asked.

Sarah bit her lip a bit. If she told Van Helsing what happened when she was kidnapped by Dracula, he would be furious. So would her mother. She couldn't possibly dare to imagine the look on her face if she told.

"No," she said softly. "He didn't...I need to find him tonight. Van Helsing, you're my friend. You do understand what I have to do, don't you?"

There was a bit of silence between them.

"Yeah," he finally said softly

Van Helsing patted her shoulder, got up, and walked out slowly, and closed her door. Sarah let out a breath, and continued packing until she dear a few clicking sounds from outside. Wait a minute. Was he locking her in? Quickly, she got up and tried to open the door. It wouldn't.

"Van Helsing," she said in a very firm voice as she tried to get it open. "Open the door,"

There was no answer.

"Van Helsing! Open this door, immedietly!"

Still no answer. Why wasn't he letting her out? Soon she went from shaking the door to banging on it.

"**PLEASE! LET ME OUT! VAN HELSING! MOTHER! CARL! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!**"

Sarah kept banging on the door until her hands started to bleed a bit. Exhausted, she slumped against the door, and hid her face between her knees, sobbing as hard as she could.

"I thought you were my friend," she said as if Van Helsing could hear her. "...I thought you would understand,"

And she continued to cry as much as she could. How could he do this to her? How could he lock her up in her room like some caged animal? There was no window for her to climb out and escape. She was a prisoner.

"_It's all right_," she heard the angelic voice again. "_Rest. You'll need it_,"

Sarah couldn't tell if she was actually getting up, or if somebody was guiding her, but she managed to find her way into the bed and pull th covers over her. And in just a manner of seconds, she felt as though someone kissed her forehead as if to wish her a good rest, and fell asleep. For a an hour or two it was like that, until suddenly inside the room, someone appeared. It was a beautiful young woman, around 16 years old in a white dress, with golden hemmings. A gold head band rested upon her brow, and her dark brown hair. Walking elegantly to young Sarah's bed, she smiled as she stroked her hair, and cheeks as if to wipe away the tear stains.

"Don't worry," she said softly. "You won't suffer the same fate as me,"

Suddenly, the door was unlocked, and in came Steel who walked in slowly at first, but when he caught sight of the young woman, he drew his gun.

"What are you doing here?" he said pointing his gun at the woman. "The door is supposed to be locked! How did you get a key?"

The young woman smiled.

"There's no use killing me," she said. "I'm already dead,"

Steel lowered his gun, bewildered.

"No, I'm not the undead. I'm just merely a ghost. A, um, gaurdian angel for the time being. I'm only here to help,"

Steel looked at her confused.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Me?...Well, excuse me for not introducing myself in the first place," The woman gave a kind curtsy. "My name is Princess Anne Minerva Valerious,"

Steel dropped his gun in shock. How can this woman possibly be Sarah's ancestor who died almost 400 years ago?

"But..." he stuttered. "...You...I don't understand,"

"When I was 16 years of age," Anne started to say. "My grandfather, Valerious the Elder, made a door to Castle Dracula and left clues in the tower so that future generations might kill his corrupted son, Dracula, as you know him. I accidently fell through the door, and when I woke up I was within Dracula's grasp for many weeks, each night asking me to become his bride. You see back then, Dracula was a gentlemen and respected a young lady's wishes. But I can see that things have changed. While I was there, I had fallen ill, and knew that I was going to die very soon. I looked for an escape route, and while I did, I came across the necklace that Sarah had most of her life, and it's magic was able to get me through the door back into my home. I died a week later, but not forgetting to give it to my younger sister Florence, telling her to pass it down to her daughter, and her daughters daughter, and so on and so forth. I was the one who started the chain,"

"So you are Sarah's ancestor,"

"Yes I am, Steel,"

"..Why are you here?"

"...Because I'm the only person in this world who is stranger than Dracula and can protect people from him,"

"But you're dead! How can you?"

"I was the first mortal ever to touch the necklace and because of that I am given powers to protect the innocent and help those in need,"

Steel was quiet at that for a bit, until Anne came over and put a hand on his cheek.

"I was able to put Sarah in a deep sleep. She won't wake up for a good amount of time, yet you won't see her eyes for a while. If Dracula is powerful enough, he might take you,"

"I don't care," Steel said fiercely. "All I care is about Sarah's safety, and her chance to live free,"

Anne smiled.

"You really are meant for each other," she said softly. "Both pure in heart, selfless, brave. You both every ounce of a hero in your heart,"

Steel softly shook his head.

"I'm no hero," he said.

Anne was a bit surprised by this, and put both hands on the boy's shoulders.

"A young man who wins the love of a young girl's heart, is a hero," she said in a comforting voice

Steel looked at the beautiful princess before his as she backed up a bit.

"You will see me again soon," she said. "But for now, I must let the prophecy put itself back in motion for a while,"

And with that, the young woman disappeared leaving Steel in a cloud of confusion. But the question ringing through our minds was, what was Steel doing in Sarah's room that should've been locked? Well, while he had listened to her crying after Van Helsing locked her in to keep her from going to find Dracula, he had come to a conclusion. He would give Sarah the sun and cloud necklace, the one he was supposed to protect. He knew that this wasn't his fight to fight. It was Sarah's. Placing it gently around her neck, he gave her a small kiss on the lips. He was about to go back out until he noticed something. Part of his hand was disappearing, and was continuing along his body.

"What the--?" he said to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a scream of fright. It sounded like Maria screaming but before he could go anywhere, he disappeared entirely, and within seconds he found himself in a frightening cold place. He was alone for a bit, but then came Van Helsing, Anna, and even Carl looking around with frightened faces. Carl, who took a while to calm himself a bit, took a deep breath and pointed a finger at Van Helsing.

"You told me I would never have to come back here!" he yelled.

"That was before I realized that part of my body was disappearing," Van Helsing said as he held Anna close to him.

"Are you guys all right?" Steel asked.

"We're fine," Anna said in a calm voice.

"Where's Maria?"

"Maria?"

"I heard a girl scream. I thought it was Maria,"

"Oh, that was just Carl," Van Helsing jerked his head toward Carl.

"I do not scream like a girl!" Carl protested.

"Welcome back Van Helsing," said a chilling voice.

They all turned around to find Dracula, with Paige and Taylor behind him. (A/N: Yes I know you guys want them to die. Don't worry. Our heroes are going to kick their undead butts!). As predicted, Carl screamed like a girl and hid behind Van Helsing. Steel and Van Helsing both stood their ground, as Van Helsing pulled Anna back.

"What have you done Dracula?" he said drawing his gun.

Dracula looked at the quartet with a frown. Taylor, noticing who was missing, broke into a rage.

"Where is she?" he yelled.

"Who?" Anna asked, fearlessly.

"Sarah! Your daughter. The bratty princess. _**My future bride**_!"

Steel's eyes went wide, and rushed toward Taylor. He didn't care what he did to him, but his face was practically an inch away from his.

"I swear on my life," he said. "If you touch her, I promise you, you will wish that you have never met me,"

"I've been wishing it since I have," Taylor said.

"Now now Taylor," Paige said seductively as she walked toward Steel. "Is that anyway to treat your...brother in law?"

"What?" Steel narrowed his eyes.

"Dracula," Anna started. "What are these children talking about?"

Before anyone could say anything, Paige pressed her lips against Steel's and the both shared a passionate kiss. Anna gasped and put a hand over her mouth. This was going to break Sarah's heart. But it was not like Steel could help it. You see, when Paige kissed him, a power took control. As you know, before they were turned into vampires, Paige and Taylor were studying dark magic. One of the spells Paige studied was a love spell. She could make anyone fall in love with her just by kissing them. The only antidote was true loves kiss, and no other...Well, we all know who that was going to be. When they were done, Steel was totally in a trance. He didn't move or speak. Van Helsing looked down in dismay. With a wave of his hand and a smile on his face, Dracula used a power to make a cell appear around Carl, Van Helsing, and Anna, thus making them trapped again.

"Is he...?" Van Helsing was about to ask after a long silence.

"The undead?" asked Taylor. "...Not yet,"

"You see Gabriel," Dracula started. "There's been a change in plans. Instead of killing Sarah, we decided that she would be an excellent addition to our...charming family,"

"As my new bride,"

"Now, tell me Gabriel. Where is she?"

"...I don't know," Gabriel lied. "She ran away again,"

Dracula shook his head.

"I know you too well Gabriel," he sneered. "Too well. I know that you wouldn't let anything happen to that girl,"

Paige, with a sense of danger in her eyes, let Steel alone for a while, and walked to a crystal ball in a corner that was big enough for everyone to see. With a wave of her hand, a mist clouded the inside of the ball, and there appeared the artilary room in Valerious Manor. And there was Micheal, Maria, and Sarah. Micheal had his back against a shelf, as his sister Maria had her head on his legs. Sarah was just curled up on the floor, still in a deep sleep.

"So instead of coming to us, they came to Valerious Manor," Paige announced. "But how is that possible?"

"...I don't know," said a very disappointed Dracula.

* * *

Maria sighed happily in her sleep, as Micheal grinned in his. Sarah, the spell of Anne Valerious now lifting itself, opened her eyes slowly. When she looked at her surroundings, she shot up instantly gasping. They were home, but why were the lying in the middle of the artilary room? Across fom her, laid Micheal and Maria. Active, but still tired from her sleep, she crawled quickly towards them, and shook them both awake.

"Maria! Micheal!" she whispered loudly. "We're home!"

Slowly, the two siblings opened their eyes, and were surprised.

"How did we get here?" Maria asked. "The last thing I remember was falling asleep. It felt like someone was kissing me on the forehead,'

"Me too!" Micheal exclaimed, then grinned. "...It felt good,"

Maria and Sarah looked at Micheal with eyebrows raised.

"You're weird," Sarah finally said as she got up. "Mom!...Steel!...Where is everyone?"

"You won't find them here," said a voice.

Sarah gasped. She knew that voice. It was the voice that she heard before she fell asleep. She turned around and saw the young woman Steel saw before.

"Who are you?" she asked as Maria and Micheal got up.

The woman smiled, took a sword, and kneeled as she held it in front of her, the point on the ground.

"Sarah Anne Valerious," she said. "I am in your debt. I take this vow to protect you when you are in need of help. To guide you when you are lost. To give you strength when you are weak. To give you life when you are dead,"

Sarah groaned.

"I hate it when people don't answer my questions directly!" she said through her teeth. "This is the last time I'm going to ask nicely...WHO THE HECK ARE YOU!"

The young woman sighed as she got up.

"My name is Anne Minerva Valerious," she said slowly.

Sarah's eyes went wide and flew a hand to her mouth. This couldn't be possible. But then again, she has seen weirder things in her time.

"Oh," she said slowly. "I'm sorry. If I had known you were family, I would've..."

"It's all right," Anne smiled.

"Um...Can I get you anything? Something to drink? Milk? Water?...Absinthe?"

Anne laughed.

"I can't," she said. "I'm dead. Don't tell me you've been drinking that awful stuff,"

"No," Sarah said. "I just thought you'd might like some,"

"Oh don't. It's really bad stuff. You'd lose your sense of taste for a week,"

(A/N: Drinking is bad! Don't do it!)

"But you must listen to me Sarah," Anne said in a very hurried voice. "There's no time to lose,"

"What's going on?" asked Sarah.

"Look around your neck,"

Sarah narrowed her eyes in confusion, and slowly looked down. Gasping, she put a hand on it, as if to hide what was on it. The necklace that Steel gave her was around her neck.

"I thought Steel was supposed to look after this!" she exclaimed.

"He was," Anne said softly. "But he felt that it should go to you,"

"Felt? Did he even _think_! The last time I had a necklace like this, it almost got me killed,"

"And how were you going to kill Dracula without that necklace?"

Sarah started to protest back at her ancestor, but stopped, and groaned again.

"I hate it when people do that," she murrmered. "...Do you know how we got here?"

"I brought you here," Anne explained.

"How?"

"When I was still alive, I was the first mortal to touch the naecklace you had in the beginning. Therefore it gave me certain powers, and it still follows me, even in death. It even flows through your veins,"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"...But where's my mother? And Steel? And Van Helsing and Carl? Where are they?"

Anne looked down a bit. Sarah shook her head. No. It couldn't be. It can't be what she was thinking. If it was, it would be unbearable.

"Please tell me that they're still alive," she said slowly.

"They're still alive," Anne reassured. "But Steel might not be so lucky by midnight,"

"Why? What happens at midnight?"

Anne sighed. She was not going to like this next part.

"In his castle," she started. "Dracula is having a ball. A masquerade,"

"Why am I not surprised?" Sarah asked sarcastically

Dracula clearly had an obbsession with masked-balls.

"At midnight he will announce an engagement to Steel and Paige,"

"Paige!" exclaimed Micheal.

"Paige," Anne said calmly.

Sarah's eyes grew wide. There was no way that Paige was going to marry him. Besides he was too young.

"What do you want us to do?" Sarah asked.

"There is a way," Anne said. "Although it would be very dangerous. You have to crash the ball,"

"Yes!" Micheal said thrusting his fist into the air.

"...Which is in a room full of vampires that Dracula has taken the liberty into turning them,"

"...No,"

Maria giggled a bit for Micheal's dismay. The look on his face when he heard Anne was priceless. Anne, still in a smile, waved her hand around, and immedietly the children were in ball gown's with masks. Sarah's was the usual: White dress with the diamonds bordering the mask. Maria was in a lovely green gown with a blue mask, with black ribbons hanging from its edges. Micheal, just for the heck of it, was dressed in a jester outfit. Stockings, the pointy shoes, the hat with bells. The works.

"No one will recognize you," Anne said as they followed her to the giant painting that disquised the mirror-like door. "But Sarah, once you break the speel that has befallen Steel, your identity will be revealed. But Dracula will not harm you. No. He's human enough to do that,"

Sarah looked down a little bit. Anne smiled, and lifted her chin with a finger.

"Don't be afraid," she said, starting to disappear. "No matter what happens, I will always be there, right when you need me,"

And so Anne disappeared, leaving the dressed up teenagers alone. For a moment, it was silent. But then, the mirror started to appear until the three of them could see their reflections. Everyone was still for but a moment. Maria, being 10 years old and a curious little child, step forward to touch the mirror, when Sarah pulled her back

"Not yet Maria," she warned. "Let me go first,"

Maria nodded, and held her brothers hand as she watched Sarah walk slowly toward the mirror. This was totally insane. In reality, you can't just walk right through a mirror. It just wasn't possible...and if you even tried it would be totally random. Every breath Sarah made when she got closer grew louder as she got closer and closer to the mirror. With just the tip of her fingers, it went through, and lunged her hand slowly through the glass, until she felt the ice bite her skin. Gasping, she drew it back, showing melting snow on her hand.

"My worse nightmare is coming back," she whispered, loud enough for her friends to hear. "We're going to Castle Dracula,"

Turning around, she faced her friends with a very frightened look.

"You guys," she said. "You have to understand. Once we through here, we can't go back until Dracula is good and dead,"

"We're not leaving you Sarah," Micheal said.

Sarah nodded with a sigh, and slowly went in through the portal to Castle Dracula. It was just as she remembered as Maria and Micheal came in. Cold, dark, ice everywhere, and skeletons hanging loosely in old frozen trees. Walking hand in hand, they went toward the giant open door. Fortunetly, it was open, but gaurded by only one...well, I was about to say "man", but then I remembered he was a vampire, so he was gaurding it. Micheal leaned in to whisper.

"You've got that necklace of yours hidden, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sarah whispered back.

"Good. But I think we've got a much bigger problem,"

"I can see that, Micheal,"

"Well what do we do?"

"Ummm...Maria, you stay quiet and not say a word. Micheal you give me a fake name,"

"Why?"

"Because you're better at lying than me!"

"Well, what about you?"

"Me? Oh, I'll just stay quiet and say a word,"

Micheal furrowed his eyebrows.

"So basically, I just do all the talking?"he asked in a whimper. "To a vampire!"

"Pretty much," Sarah shrugged.

"Aw, man,"

Micheal groaned within himself, as they approached the vampire gaurd.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Micheal grinned.

"I think-a maybe you-a can," he said in a very strange accent, as he waved a hand at Sarah. "This is-a Duchess Isabella Elizabeth Bethany Consuela! Formerly Duchess Izzy,"

Sarah glared at Micheal. She was going to kill Micheal for that stupid name. But it got them to get into the castle without having to kill any vamps...not like they didn't want to. Once they were out of sight, and making their way to the dance floor, she grabbed Micheal.

"**_Duchess Izzy!_**" she exclaimed.

Micheal grinned sheepishly.

"It got us in, didn't it?" he asked.

(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. To make up for it, I've made a long chapter. Review please. Oh, and Happy April Fools Day!)


	17. No True Beauty Till This Night

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Sarah Valerious has never been so cold inside her entire life. As she walked among the young dancers who were about her age with Micheal and Maria, she searched everywhere for the whereabouts of Steel, or maybe even her mother, Carl, or Van Helsing. No such luck was found yet. Her eyes soon fell upon a face she had not seen a while, and fright rushed through her. She stopped. Maria looked at her friend with concern

"What is it Sarah?" she asked.

Sarah slowly pointed a shaking finger ahead of them. Micheal and Maria looked, and they would've tore their eyes out. Just overlooking the whole hypnotic dance, was the Dragulia family. With them was Steel, with glazed eyes. He was not wearing a mask, but he was in a fine suit with a sword at his side. Beside him was a masked Paige, enjoying herself with a pleasent talk with her brother, Taylor. Sarah felt sick to the stomach. Clutching it, she ran back behind a collum where no one could see or hear them...well except for a certain trio that was also taken hostage. You can guess who.

"Well," Carl sighed. "At least he's letting us watch the party,"

The trio was in a balcony overlooking the whole crowd. Although they couldn't escape, they were still upset to do so. Sarah did not know where they were, and that doorway was just a one-way ticket to a place of nightmares. So even if they tried they couldn't. It would be just impossible. Van Helsing sighed as he wrapped a comforting arm around Anna.

"I hate him," he growled.

"Join the club," Anna scoffed.

"He has us trapped up here, Sarah's back at your manor, and Steel is about to be engaged to a vampire," Carl said. "We all hate him,"

Suddenly, Van Helsing heard sniffling. He went wide-eyed. He knew that cry. Below them, he saw a teenager clad in a white dress, and white mask, with two friends comforting her. He knew it was Sarah immedietly, as Anna and Carl gathered around him and saw her too. But he couldn't try to reach her. Even if he screamed out her name, she couldn't hear him, and Taylor and Paige's dark magic made sure, that they were not seen nor heard.

* * *

"What's the matter Sarah?" asked Maria.

"I can't do it," Sarah choked.

"What?" asked Micheal in disbelief. "Of course you can!"

"Micheal, he's surrounded by vampires! I can't take on that many!...Maybe I should just give up,"

Suddenly, Micheal slapped his friend across the face. Sarah flew a hand to her cheek, and looked at Micheal in disbelief.

"No," she said softly shaking his head. "I am **NOT** gonna let you give up. Look how far we've come. You have a chance. We just need a plan,"

"We came without one!" Sarah hissed.

"We just need to put our heads together,"

Maria sighed. But inside her head, a plan was forming. Slowly, her eyes lit up with excitment.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Wait a minute, wait just a minute!...I have an idea,"

"What?" Micheal asked.

Maria grinned.

"...Remember last year for Mom and Dad's anniversary?" she asked.

"Aw come on!" Micheal groaned as he remembered.

"What?" Sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

"He sang a song for them," Maria smiled.

"Where was I?"

"You were hunting werewolves,"

"Oh,"

"Once is enough!" Micheal said. "I keep hearing that song in my sleep!"

"Then you'll remember the words," Maria grinned.

Micheal groaned.

"What did I do to deserve this?" he asked.

"You slapped Sarah," Maria simply said.

"Yeah," Saran sneered, finally liking Maria's idea. "And you gave me a stupid fake name,"

Micheal groaned again, but gave in anyway. Maria turned to Sarah.

"Okay, Sarah," she started. "Micheal's gonna sing that song in front of everybody, and you look for Steel, and give him that kiss,"

Sarah smiled.

"Since when did you become so smart?" she asked.

Maria smiled back.

"Never," she said. "I just picked it up from my best friend,"

Sarah's eyes welled up with tears of happiness. Bending down and careful not to ruin her dress, she gave Maria the biggest hug she could muster.

* * *

Meanwhile, Steel looked over the crowd. Everyone thought this would be a happy night, because tonight at midnight, his future father-in-law would announce the engagement to his future fiance, Paige. And yet he was feeling empty inside. Once they would announce, Paige would bite his neck thus, making him a vampire. But why did they have to make it so sudden? What was the big deal? In truth he couldn't remember of his life before a few hours ago, but he could tell that Paige was not the one for him. Suddenly, he saw someone, dressed in white. It was easy to spot her, since she was the only one not dressed in dark colors. Slowly he made his way behind curtains that covered bare walls. The only one who noticed Steel's spying on the young angel, was his soon-to-be-fiance, Paige. Quickly, she turned to her brother.

"Who is that young woman?" she pointed to the young girl in white.

Taylor squinted his eyes.

"I have no idea," he said. "Heh...but your boyfriend seems to want to get to know her,"

Paige bared her fangs, and grabbed her brother by the throat.

"**_No one is touching him_**," she hissed.

But then, turning to the sight of the young woman going behind the curtains, her anger turned into a devilish smile.

"If she does anything to ruin my enagagment," she began. "Let pain far worse than death befall her once it happens,"

* * *

"Maria, please!" Micheal begged. "I promise you, I'll pay you a whole year's allowance if you don't let me do this,"

Maria stopped pushing her brother, and thought about it.

"Tempting..." she said. "...Nope. You're singing,"

With that, Maria gave Micheal a good push and he stumbled toward the middle of the crowd. Maria disappeard to hide somewhere. Micheal sighed. Soon he started singing, and caught everyone's attention.

(A/N: For those of you who have seen the 1968 version of "Romeo and Juliet" the next few segments of this chapter will be based on Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. I found it very romantic when I saw it in class, and if it melted my heart, trust me, it'll melt yours too. So grab tissues, cause I sure as heck did...Oh! And I don't own "What is a youth?" by Nino Rota, and Shakespere's works)

_What is a youth? Impetuous fire.  
What is a maid? Ice and desire  
The world wags on.  
A rose shall bloom, it then will fade.  
So does a youth, so does the fairest maid.  
Comes a time when one sweet smile  
Has its season for a while  
Then love's in love with me  
Some they think only to marry, others will tease and tarry  
Mine is the very best parry, Cupid he rules us all  
Caper the cape, but sing me the song  
Death will come come soon to hush us along  
Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall  
Love is a task and it never will pall  
Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall  
Cupid he rules us all._

As Micheal sang the next verse softly, Sarah crept and peaked through the velvet curtains, trying to look for Steel. Micheal was running out of time, and she needed to make haste. But where was he? One minute, Steel was there, looking blankly at the crowd, and the next he was gone. Sarah sighed in despair. It was two hours till midnight, and even with that amount of time, she could never get to Steel. Suddenly, as she was starting to lose hope, a hand touched hers. She gasped, but then, the touch was gentle. Soft. Warm. She dared not look at its owner.

"Did my heart ever love till now? Forswear it sight!" said a warm voice. "For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night,"

Sarah smiled a bit. He was quoting Shakespere. It set a spell on her heart, but a wonderful one. She didn't want to look yet. She didn't want to get her hopes up.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand," he began. "This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,"

As he had said, lips brushed against her hand, but it was not enough to break the spell. Finally whipping her head, she saw Steel, tears streaming down from behind her mask. Quietly, she played along.

"Good pilgrim," she choked with tears. "You do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this. For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch. And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss,"

Sarah started to cry a bit, happy that Steel was still alive, but sad that he did not remember her. Gently, the young boy wiped the tears away.

"Have not saints lips, and holy plamers too?" he asked softly.

"Ay, pilgrim," Sarah nodded. "Lips that they must use in prayer,"

"O, then, dear saint," Steel wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Let lips do what hands do. They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair,"

Sarah smiled. But then, fear rushed through her. What if this was a trap? Her head screamed for her to run, and she obeyed. But before she could move an inch, Steel grabbed her arm in a harsh but gentle way. Sarah started to show more tears, for she was desperate for Steel's safety.

"Saints do not move," she said as Steel pulled her back into his arms. "Though grant for prayers' sake,"

"Then move not," Steel whispered, as he leaned closer to her. "While my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin...is purged,"

_A rose will bloom, it then will fade  
So does a youth, so does the fairest maid_.

And with their lips, of course, the sin was purged. The kiss had broken the spell

(A/N: Sorry, it took me so long to review. I had writers block until this. Review please. And check out Feline Fox and Fira: Their Last Stand. It's been there since the movie came out, and I need support please. Thank you, and good night)


	18. I'll Never Leave

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

As they kissed, though, a power took control. Remember Paige's threat to whomever ruins her "engagement?" That was actually a spell, and she said it would work as soon as Sarah kissed Steel. But they both didn't know. Nobody knew about this. They didn't see it coming. Not even Anne, who, unbeknowest to Sarah's knowledge, was with her the whole time. The power became painful and too much to bear, but it only happened to Sarah. Her insides were twisting and turning, and felt as though they were on fire. As the kiss broke, Steel remembered everything, and found Sarah writhing on the ground, clutching her stomach. He bent down.

"Sarah," he said in a paniked whisper. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Sarah managed to say, despite the pain.

Suddenly, Micheal appeared with Maria by his side from the other side of the velvet drapes.

"Hey you two lovebirds," Micheal snapped. "Get a move on here!"

Maria slapped her brother upside the head.

"Micheal, something's wrong with Sarah," she explained as she bent down by her friends side.

"Let's get her up," Steel said. "Micheal help me out here,"

Micheal helped his friend up, and slung an arm over his neck, while Sarah wrapped her other arm around Steel's neck. Silently, Maria follwed them behind the curtains, careful not to make sudden noises. Sarah tried to surpress her cries of pain. It was like someone was eating her insides, with tiny but painful bites. Suddenly, they all heard a familiar voice.

"**COUNT VLADISLAUS DRAGULIA!**" it said. "**YOU WILL SUFFER THE WRATH OF THE VALERIOUS LINE!**"

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks,except Sarah who couldn't think of anything else besides how bad the pain was inside of her. Steel and Micheal lowered Sarah to the ground against the wall.

"Watch her Maria," Steel whispered to the little one.

Maria nodded, and stayed by her friends side, as Micheal and Steel went to see what was going on. Outside of their hiding place, the vampiric dancers were backing away as a line formed letting someone through. Thinking it would probably be okay to come out, Micheal and Steel left Maria and Sarah behind the curtain, and pushed through the crowd to get a better look. To their surprise, Anne Valerious had revealed herself to the whole masqued ball. Dracula stepped forward, in awe, but seemed to know that she was there the whole time.

"Anne Minerva Valerious," he jeered as Anna stopped within a few feet away from him. "How long has it been? 3? 400 years?"

"Actually," Anne gave off grin. "426 years,"

"Really? You don't look a day over 16,"

"I was 16 when I died!"

"You would've lived if you became my bride,"

"I would've staked myself through the heart if you had done so. What have you done with the girl?"

"...What business do you have with the young Valerious?"

Anne started to grow angry. Closing her eyes, she concentrated a bit. But then, when she opened them, the brown eyes that were once there on her face, had glowed a bright blue. Spreading out her arms, lightning came out from her fingers. Micheal and Steel sheilded themselves from the glowing light. Soon, they heard screams and wails, and shrieks, and within seconds every vampire (excluding Dracula, Paige, and Taylor, for they were protected by dark magic) was gone. Micheal and Steel were no longer surrounded by undead ball dancers, and looked at Anne, who still looked at Dracula with piercing eyes.

"What have you done?" she asked again.

"Why don't you ask her, yourself?" asked Dracula.

Anne was confused. Sarah couldn't possibly know what was going on. Dracula begged to differ.

"Sarah..." he called in a sing-song-voice. "Oh Sarah...Oh Sarah,"

Slowly, Sarah walked slowly as if she were hypnotized and came toward Dracula.

"Sarah, what happened?" asked Steel. "Did it stop?"

Sarah didn't respond. She just kept going. Micheal started to grow worried about his sister, and what might've happened, and ran to the back of the curtain to see if she was all right. Anne didn't know what to do. Looking back she saw Van Helsing, Anna, and Carl in the balcony. They could only bee seen by her and the vampires, but all that would soon change. With a wave of her hand, nothing happened. But something did.

"Anna!" Anne called to her descendant. "Call to your child! Get her to come back!"

Anna knew that somehow they could be seen, and started calling Sarah's name.

"Sarah!" she shouted. "Just go back! Don't do anything he says! He's controlling you! Don't give in!"

"Sarah, listen to us!" Van Helsing shouted along with her. "Don't do this! You're strong! You can fight it! You crossed half of Europe to save the world. You put yourself in harms way to save others! Turn back!"

Despite all these protests, Sarah could not hear one. They couldn't jump down to get her, for the balcony was gaurded with an invisible barrier. Steel tried to stop her, but as soon as he touched her, Sarah thrust him back with a great force. Standing within an inch of Dracula, she stared at him. Anne's magic wouldn't work against vampires as powerful as Dracula, Paige, and Taylor, and magic won't work against the necklace Sarah had on her. During their little staring, Maria scrambled out of the curtains, her mask torn off, and a stake in her hand. Paige followed her. While Steel tried to stop Sarah, Maria was growing scared.

"Maria," Paige hissed glaring her fangs. "It is your blood that shall keep me beautiful. What do you think of that?"

"You wanna know what I think?" asked Maria.

With that, Maria kicked Paige in the shins, and plunged the stake in her heart. She let out a wail.

"I think if you're gonna kill someone, kill them! Don't stand there talking about it!" Maria spat.

If Sarah could hear this, she would've gave Maria a horse of her choosing. Paige was now gone

(A/N: Everyone should thank Maria! She's this chapters hero!)

But during all the hullabaloo, (A/N: Yes I said hullabaloo) Dracula asked the young Valerious something.

"I believe you have something that should rightfully be mine," he said. "May I have it back?"

Without one word, Sarah brought a hand to her neck, revealing the sun and cloud necklace she had kept hidden all this time. Ripping it off, she let it fall into Dracula's hands as Taylor crept behind her. Dracula gave off a creepy smile.

"Thank you," he said.

After that, Sarah two sharp teeth go through her neck. Taylor had bitten her

"NO!" cried Anne

Anna and Van Helsing watched with horror as Sarah finally came back to herself, and cried out in pain. Maria sunk to the floor, as Micheal watched his best friend in the whole world get ready to die and took off his jester hat. Steel, who had regained his composure from Sarah's hit, looked up to find her sinking to the floor, clutching her neck. He caught her in his arms, and held her there.

"Sarah..." he whispered. "No...Don't go,"

"Steel," Sarah whispered back, putting a hand on his cheek. "Shh. It's just...I'm sorry. I couldn't..."

"You can fight this. You have to. You..."

"Steel, listen to me...I'm gonna be a vampire in a few minutes..."

"No..."

"And I want you to take care of the others..."

"No!"

"And always keep in mind, that this is not the end, and it will **_never_** be the end. We may have lost the battle, but we'll win the war,"

"Don't leave me,"

Sarah gave off a weak smile.

"I'll never leave..." she whispered softly

But her words were that of irony. With all the strength she had in her, Sarah lefted her head up, gave Steel a kiss, and breathed her last breath. Eyes rolled up to her head, and they were closed. Anne, with shame in her mind, disappeared. All hope had been lost as Steel buried his face against his love's shoulder. Sarah Valerious was dead and would soon be a vampire.

* * *

(A/N: You think this is over don't ya?...Don't ya?...WELL IT'S NOT! It ain't over till I say it's over.

**Sarah**: Um, hello! I'm dead! My true love's mourning my loss, Taylor bit me, and Van Helsing still doesn't know I made a deal with Dracula, and I gave away the world's fate to the worlds deadliest vampire on a silver platter!

**Me**:...Shut up. Review please!)


	19. A Cure For A Vampire

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

When we last left our heros, we had a death in the group. A very important person. The death of Sarah Anne Valerious, Princess of Transylvannia. Van Helsing, Anna, Carl, and the kids were now in an icy prison at the tallest tower of Castle Dracula. Anna was crying in the arms of Van Helsing who was holding her very tightly. Maria was burying her head against her brothers, who was still trying to get over that his best friend was dead. Steel just looked out the window, his tears freezing against the cold.

"She was so beautiful," he said softly.

"Yes," said a voice. "But she'll be _exquisite_ at midnight,"

Everyone turned around to find Taylor. A smug grin on his face, and still in his suit from the masked ball, he walked over to Steel.

"What do you want?" Steel asked. "Whatever it is take it. You've already took everything from me,"

"Nothing," Taylor said innocently. "I just want you to know that Sarah is by far the most beautiful bride I have ever seen, that she's now one of the children of the night, the second generation of my kind oh! And she has no memory whatsoever of being human and meeting you losers,"

Maria growled under her breath. She didn't care if she died for this, she had to do what she had to do. Looking up, she dried leftover tears from her face.

"Taylor," she said.

Taylor rolled his eyes.

"What, you pathetic annoying little human?" he asked irritably.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away. I've got all eternity,"

Maria stood up, despite her brothers silent protests, defiantly. Everyone watched as Van Helsing stood up, and attempted to try and stop the girl from wthatever she was doing.

"Miss Grey," he started. "I don't think it's wise for you to..."

"Just how long were you such a stupid, ugly, no-good teenager with a talent for being a suck up?" Maria didn't listen. "How long did you beg Dracula to get Sarah to be your bride, instead of killing her like you planned in the first place?"

Taylor roared and attempted to throw the girl aside, but she ducked and bit him on the leg. As powerful as Taylor was, he's a bit of a wimp. When Maria bit him (Thankfully her teeth didn't sink in), he started wimpering, and vanished out of the prison. Through the small prison bars in a window on the door, he stuck his head through it.

"Filthy little human," he sneered.

Maria scoffed in disgust, and bobbed him on the head hard with her fist. He yelped out and held in. Maria shook her head.

"No wonder Sarah was able to beat you to a pulp when you were alive," she remarked. "_**You're a wimp**_!"

Taylor just growled, having nothing further to say to the fiesty Maria, and slunk away on the icy steps. Micheal looked at his sister weirdly.

"Did Sarah inhabit your body or something?" he asked.

Suddenly, after Micheal said that, a bright light shone in the room. Everyone shielded their eyes as Anne Valerious resurfaced in front of them. Steel strode forward to her.

"Why did you let her die?" he growled.

"I'm so sorry Steel," Anne pleaded. "I didn't know that this was going to happen. I didn't know that Taylor wanted her as his bride,"

"You could've done something! You could've brought her back to life,"

"I don't have the power to do so. It's not my choice,"

"Then who's choice is it then? Huh?"

"...It's Sarah's choice,"

Steel looked at her confused.

"She may be dead Steel," Anne started. "But she hasn't yet crossed over. She's choosing to stay behind to guide you to win this battle,"

"How?" asked Micheal. "We've lost already,"

"The battle, yes. But not the war. We still have an hour until midnight. At midnight, if we don't act now, Taylor and Sarah will be joined in marriage, and the Blood Eclipse will make everyone in the entire world vampires if it falls into the wrong hands. Aka: Dracula,"

"How can he do that?"

"The necklaces. The sun and cloud one represents life and health. The moon and star one bring power. Join them togethor and you get an immortal.An immortal _vampire_ would beDracula's choice. If Sarah has in her hands before the twelfth stroke of minute, she can choose to destroy them. But she'll need everyones help,"

"What can we do?" asked Anna.

Anne pointed out the window to the other side of the castle.

"There," she said. "In the West Tower is a cure,"

"For werewolves?" asked Van Helsing.

"Better. Vampires,"

"_**Vampires**_?" asked everyone in unison.

"Why would Dracula have a cure for a vampire?" asked Steel.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Micheal raised his hand in the air. "I know! I know! Pick me! Pick me!"

"No, I do!" Carl stood up. "It's obvious. The vampire Sarah won't be able to destroy the necklaces, she's evil now. And now that she is, she can get out of control. Untameable,"

"Because of the power the necklace gave her," Micheal continued. "Dracula's afraid that she'll grow more powerful than he'll ever be!"

"Correct. And if she does, Dracula will need a cure and relieve her of her powers,"

"He thinks that," Anne said. "But even if this plan does work, Sarah will still have the power to match a sorceress, even with the necklaces destroyed. So all we have to do, is find the necklaces, get the cure into Sarah before midnight, and she'll be able to make her choice,"

Steel shook his head.

"That's impossile," he said doubtfully.

Anne narrowed her eyes. It seemed that everyone in this room was doubtful.

"Maria," she bent down next to the girl. "When you were trapped in that cave, did you have faith thatSarah and your brother to come and find you?"

"...Yes," Maria said softly.

"Micheal, when you called Sarah an arrogant reckless popinjay, did she punch you in the gut for that?"

"No, thank goodness," Micheal sounded relieved.

Anne turned to Steel with a sad look on his face.

"And Steel," she said softly. "When she gave you that kiss to set you free...do you remember how wonderful that kiss felt?"

Steel thought back remembering those events leading up to Sarah's death. He nodded.

"I do," he said.

Anne smiled.

"Then let's do it,"

* * *

**Me:** I hope you guys liked that chapter. Sorry it's a bit short, but this is the quickest I've ever written this chapter. I know I haven't updated in a while...

**Micheal:** A while? The average wait for a new chapter is two months. 1 and a half if they're lucky!

**Sarah:** Oh be quiet! At least you didn't turn up like me. I have to marry and undead pervert!

**Micheal:** Sucks for you.

**Me:** Don't make me come over there!

**Sarah:** He started it!

**Me:** I don't care who started it! I'll finish it! Review please! I've got to go borrow a flame thrower from Maria or someone and seperate these two. Hope you liked this chapter.


	20. The Unseen Friend

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

When everything was all planned out, everyone got ready to leave the icy prison.

"Question," Micheal said. "How are we supposed to get out?"

Anne smiled to herself. This was going to be easy. Spreading out her arms, the same kind of spark from before emitted from her fingers, only blue. Bringing her hands together, she slowly seperated them, forming a blue orb. Everyone stood back as she threw it against the frozen door, and it collapsed into a million pieces. Maria was amazed at the sight of light magic, and went ahead first.

"Stay here Maria," Micheal caught up. "We don't know where we're going,"

"All right," Anne spoke. "Carl, you take Maria and Micheal to the West Tower andget that cure. Van Helsing, you, Anna, and Steel must find Sarah. We'll need to stall the wedding to have time for Carl to get back with the cure. You must not waste any second. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded, and went their seperate ways, until Anne stopped Van Helsing.

"Wait," she said, and thrust something into his hand. "Just in case,"

Van Helsing looked at his hand, and went wide eyed. Upon it, was a stake. He looked at Anne, who merely looked down in sadness.

"We don't where Dracula is with Taylor and Sarah," she said softly. "And this has never happened before. And trust me. You do not want to spend the rest of your life seeing Sarah as a vampire. She would want you to do this if it was too late,"

"Then we won't be late,"

* * *

A few minutes later, Carl was leading Michael and Mara down dark halls lit only by torches. Thunder rolled outside, telling everyone that a storm was coming. There seemed to be a lot of those lately. They came across two paths.

"Let's go that way!" Carl and Micheal said togethor

Only problem was, one was pointing one way, and another was pointing the other.

"No that way!"

They switched places. Maria scowled.

"You two make up your minds already!" she shouted.

"Well, I can't remember where the West Tower is!" exclaimed Carl.

"You have to!" Micheal screamed. "It's only been weeks since you've been here,"

As the two inventors started fighting, Maria scowled, and grabbed a torch from it's case on the wall. Passing the two arguing fools, she waved the firey torch around both paths to see which one was the right way. When she was about to choose, she felt the torch lift out of her hands and float in the air. She let out a yelp, and stumbled backward on the ground. Carl and Micheal stopped fighting, and looked in awe a the floating torch, waving itself about.

"What do you think it is?" asked frightened Maria, clutching the friar's robes.

"...It's a ghost," Carl confirmed.

"How can you tell?"

"Because it's showing us where to go,"

Indeed, the torch was pointing the path on their right.

"Unh-Unh," Micheal shook his head. "_You_ go that way! If there's one thing I've learned it's never be the first to go through a path that's suggested by a ghost we just met!"

"Fine," Maria said. "Carl and I will go. You can stay here and keep watch,"

"I will,"

Without hesitation, Maria and Cark went down the path, soon fading into the darkness. Micheal slumped against the wall, relaxing a bit. But then, the torch came back waving itself around Micheal's head. Micheal ducked, covering his head, as it continued to swipe at him. He growled.

"All right, all right!" he shouted. "I'm going! I'm going!"

Micheal ran down the path, and caught up with Maria and Carl who were just approaching a room with a big vial case. The floating torch gave itself back to Maria, and all the magic seemed to stop as they got a good view of the vial. Inside was a syringe with red liquid inside. Suddenly, the glass started tipping itself a little. The ghost was trying to push it down.

"Stand back," Carl backed away the children.

The vial tipped to the left, the right. When it leaned just a bit more, it came crashing down, sending bits of glass everywhere. The smell of acid freshened the whole room, as the syringe rolled on the ground, unbroken.

"Go get it Micheal!" Maria pointed at the object

Micheal scrambled forward to his knees, whipped out a handkerchief, and wrapped it around the syringe, so he wouldn't get burned. Maria let the torch float up again and wave itself around. She smiled.

"Thank you ghost," she said politely.

The torch seemed to bow at her as if saying "You're welcome" and led the three out of the room, leading them to Van Helsing and the others. That sure was easy.

* * *

Van Helsing and Steel crouched down as they heard voces from the foyer. Shouting between two familiar voices: Dracula and Sarah.

"They belonged to my human family!" they heard the Evil-Sarah-Vampire. "They were entrusted to _**me**_, and I want them!"

"You cannot have them until after the eclipse has completed!" Dracula protested.

Sarah was still in her ball dress, only her mask was off, and her hair was down. She looked clearly angry, that her eyes had become ice blue. It was horrible for Anna to see her daughter like this, and clung on to Van Helsing. He gave her a comforting hand on the shoulder as they watched.

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" Evil-Sarah asked threateningly

"I'm saying that you are new to the vampire world," Dracula said simply. "You still have part of your human life somewhere inside you,"

"You mean to say that the bratty princess will emerge once more, and destroy your plan! She's dead! Taylor killed her, and I was set free. You do well to remember Dracula that I have no heart anymore. I feel no _love_...nor _fear_...nor _joy_...nor s_orrow_. I am **_hollow_**, and I will live **_forever_**,"

Dracula glared at her, but she had a point. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the two necklaces. Evil-Sarah grabbed them immedietly and tied them around her neck as Carl, Maria, and Michael emerged in low crouches.

"We got it," Micheal said.

"Good," Van Helsing said, letting the boy give him the cure. "I'm going down there,"

But when Van Helsing tried to go down to the foyer, the floating torch emerged out of nowhere, swinging itself in front of him.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a ghost," Maria explained. "It helped us find the cure,"

"Does it want us to do something?" asked Steel.

He was about to get his answer. The torch dropped on the ground, and everyone gathered around it to find the message "Stay where you are" written in flames. Everyone was confused as to what happened next.

"Something comes your way Count..." whispered a familiar voice. "Something comes your way..."

Dracula and Evil-Sarah looked around, looking for the whereabouts of the voice. Steel knitted his eyebrows togethor. Where has I heard that voice before?

"Who's there?" he asked aloud.

"I am Count Dracula!" said the voice playfully. "King of all vampires!"

Dracula narrowed his eyes. The voice was playing with him, and it certainly didn't sound like him at all.

"If you are Dracula," he growled, having no luck looking for the source of the voice. "Then who am I?"

"You are bat breath!" the voice retorted back.

Then there was a cackle of laughter the rung through the air, mixed with the rolling of thunder. Dracula raised his eyebrows, and looked at Evil-Sarah, his thoughts forming.

"Tell me, _Dracula_," he spat as he walked around. "Have you another name?"

"Why yes," the voice said politely.

Everyone on the good side watched this with a bit of interest. Whoever was the owner of this voice clearly annoyed Dracula.

"Man or Woman?" Dracula asked.

"None," the voice said simply.

"Boy or Girl?"

"Girl,"

"...Ordinay girl?"

"**NO!**"

"Wonderful girl?"

"Yes! Do you give up?"

Evil-Sarah scowled.

"Shut-up!" she shouted. "You're so annoying! Where are you, you blithering fool?"

"Behind you,"

Everyone either looked up or turned around, to see a familiar face. A face they hadn't hoped to see again. There, standing from beside a column, was the ghost of Sarah Anne Valerious.

* * *

**Micheal**:...Did you get that scene from "Peter Pan"? If you did, you better say you don't own it.

**Me**: All right. I don't own that scene from "Peter Pan". Aren't you just glad that Sarah's back alive?

**Sarah**: Technically, I'm a ghost now

**Me:** Oh yeah. That's true.

**Micheal:** Hey, wait a minute...Sarah! That was you who almost took my head off with the torch!

**Sarah:** Sorry.

**Me:** Okay, guys can you review please? Oh! And don't forget to check out "Feline Fox and Fira 2: Their Last Stand". Reviews are nice on that too. Hope you guys liked this chapter!


	21. The Ghost of Sarah Valerious

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Everyone couldn't believe it. An hour or so ago, she was dead. But here she was, a mere spirit. A ghost. Evil Sarah and Dracula were taken aback at this.

"Hello Dracula," Sarah smiled.

"This is not possible," Dracula whispered in disbelief

"Oh believe me. It is,"

Evil Sarah glared at the other her. Sarah the Ghost took notice of this and smiled.

"Well," she said and walked over to her. "Don't I look nice,"

"I hate the sound of my own voice," Evil Sarah glared.

"Really? Then shut up! The feeling's mutual,"

Micheal laughed silently to this. She may be an angel right now, but she was an angel you do not want to mess with.

"I suppose Anne had something to do with this," Dracula confirmed.

"Actually," said Anne's voice as she appeared right next to Sarah. "I didn't,"

Dracula seemed intrigued by this. This was all Sarah's power. It would seem that her powers of white sorcery were beginning to emerge inside her even in death. He looked at her in wonder.

"This is all you're doing?" he asked

"Got that right," Sarah jeered.

"...Prove it," Evil Sarah glared.

Sarah smiled at her evil self.

"You want me to prove it?" she asked. "Fine,"

With a snap of her fingers, lightning struck directly between them. Dracula and Evil-Sarah took a step back. Van Helsing, Anna, Carl, and the children sheilded their eyes away from it. Sarah and Anne did nothing. When the lightning stopped, and rain started to fall inside, Dracula smiled.

"Sarah," he said. "You have grown powerful for someone as young as you are,"

Sarah glared at thing king of the undead. Of course she had grown powerful. It was in her blood to have powers. But she would only use them for good. She stepped forward toward Dracula.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," she said. "You give me the necklaces, and nobody gets staked. If you refuse, well, use your imagination,"

"Well," Dracula said to her. "You know very well that you can't kill me, young Valerious,"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Evil Sarah came up behind Sarah. Sarah did nothing, for she was a ghost. And Evil Sarah could only got right through her, as if she were a mist of fog.

"And you can't kill me," Sarah said. "I'm already dead,"

"Ugh," Evil Sarah scoffed. "You are so annoying,"

"Look who's talking. Enjoying being a vampire?"

"Actually I am,"

"Oh. So you're enjoying living without a soul? Not being able to get close to anyone? Who exactly are you?"

"I'm you. Is that so obvious?"

"No. The real me wouldn't have ice blue eyes that are way too abnormal. The real me would have a heart. The real me would be loved,"

Evil Sarah was struck at this. Love. That was the word that struck at her. Love. Did anyone love her? No. She couldn't remember. Dracula looked at both of the girls. One had a determined look on her face. The other was growing sad. Evil-Sarah (Who was turning good) looked at Dracula.

"You did this to me?" she asked

"Actually," said a voice. "It was I who did it,"

Everyone looked and saw Taylor coming into the room.

"Well," he said. "It seems I have two brides. A vampire and a ghost. This is my lucky day,"

"Really?" asked Sarah turning to face him with Anne. "Because these are the last few moments you'll ever have,"

Steel, who was watching all of this, crept down the stairs from the balcony they were watching. That was a big mistake. He had the vampire cure in his hands. Taylor took a sniff, and whipped his head in Steel's direction. He stopped in his tracks.

"They escaped!" he shouted.

"And you won't hurt them!" yelled Sarah sending a red zap at Taylor.

Taylor felt the power, and fell to the ground, in pain. He looked up, and saw Sarah standing over him, her hands smoking with the power she used.

"Sarah..." Steel called out.

Sarah looked at Steel and smiled.

"You better stay there Steel," she ordered. "Keep and eye on the others,"

"But..."

"Stay! This is one battle I wish to fight on my own,"

Taylor staggered up, and held onto a frozen column for support. The power Sarah controlled had weakened him, but not enough. He looked at Steel, and saw the cure. Stretching his hand toward it, Steel felt the cure slip out of his fingers, and saw it float toward Taylor's hands. Sarah tried to get it back with her new magic but couldn't. Dracula laughed.

"You seem to have forgotten that Taylor is a dark magician," he said.

"You don't have power here, Miss Valerious," Taylor said. "I do. You have a choice. Your life, or the world,"

Sarah glared at Taylor. This was a tough decision to make. If she chose her life, then she'd probably lose the chance to save the world from becoming vampires. If she chose the world, she would not be able to be cured, and not see her mother and friends again. Why was he doing this to her? Evil Sarah was still glaring at Dracula from a dark corner. She had finally come to her senses. Suddenly, Sarah the Ghost heard a familiar clank, and turned to Anne who was drawing a sword from one of the trust suits of armor.

"We'll fight you for it," she said as she got another sword.

Anne threw the sword to Sarah and she caught the handle in her hand.

"You sure you can sword fight in that dress?" Sarah asked her.

Anne grinned.

"I'll manage," she said.

* * *

**Micheal:** Hey! You're making this short! Go back and write some more!

**Sarah:** Yeah! Let me kick Taylor and Dracula's butt already.

**Me:** Can you wait for a few days? I have a life you know.

**Micheal:** What and we don't?

**Me**: Don't worry Micheal. I'll make sure you live.

**Sarah:** Hey! What about me?

**Me**: The rate you're going, I'm still thinking about it. Hope you guys liked this chapter. I know it's short, but it's all I have at the moment

**Sarah:** People! I'm sure you guys will agree with me that I can kick butt better alive! Micheal! Form a mob against the author of this story! Make her write more!

**Me:** Excuse me...I think I hear my mom calling... (runs away)


	22. Never Was Weak

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Dracula looked at the two young women with swords in their hands. Here were members of a family who swore with their lives to destroy him. He destroyed everything that they stood for, that they had, that they loved. This time, he's not gonna get away with it. Taylor growled as he got ready to pounce. Dracula held him down from his attack and smiled.

"Well," he said to the two young women. "At least it's an even number. Two against two,"

"Who said anything about even numbers?" glared Sarah.

With a snap of her fingers, everyone who was watching from the balcony had a weapon in their hands. Van Helsing was given a crossbow (his favorite weapon), Anna was gifted with two swords, Micheal and Maria had guns in their hands loaded with stakes, and Steel with the same kind of gun they had. Carl was equipped with vials of Glycerin 48. We can't have a good battle without explosives, now can we? Sarah and Anne looked at each other with smiles.

"_Who do you want to take on_?" Anne asked Sarah through her mind.

"_...I want you to fight Dracula_," Sarah answered her telepathically.

It was one of her sorcery powers that she had been gifted with.

"_He took you away from your family and had you die too quickly_," Sarah continued her mind-message.

"_You forget. He took you away from your family too. You will have the chance to finish him off_,"

Sarah nodded and they looked back with glares at the two undead men. They were the only ones left. Taylor glared daggers at Sarah as the group who was willing to fight to the death with her came down and stood behind them. Van Helsing stopped Steel with an arm and whispered to him.

"Give me the cure," he said as Steel gave it to him. "I'll get to her faster, and it seems her vampire self doesn't care about being evil anymore,"

Steel nodded as Van Helsing slipped the cure into one of his big pockets. The girls took their seperate ways: Sarah to Taylor, and Anne to Dracula. Taylor smirked.

"So," he said. "You're a ghost now huh?"

"A ghost that can kick your buttinto the next century," Sarah spat.

"Ooh. An angel with an attitude. That's a new one,"

Sarah shook her head, and banged her head against his. Taylor went down in a heap.

"**_No it's not_**," she said.

Taylor got up and lunged at her. They ended up rolling on the ground trying to finish the other off. Sarah dropped her sword when she went down. Micheal and Maria cocked their guns, but Sarah protested.

"Don't worry about me!" she shouted. "I'll be fine! Get the necklaces! We have five minutes!"

Micheal and Maria obeyed her orders and serched for the Evil-Maybe-Turned-Good-Sarah. They found her huddled in a corner, crying to herself.

"I'm not going near her," Micheal backed away.

Maria rolled her eyes. Even with a gun, her brother was a coward. While everyone else was waiting for a signal to join in, she slowly approached the crying vampire, who was longing for a soul. Bending down beside her, she put a hand on her shoulder.

"You know," she started. "When you were alive, you promised me that you would protect me and always be there for me...But now I'm here for you. You have a chance to get your soul back. All I need is one thing,"

The vampire Sarah looked up with tears in her eyes.

"I need those necklaces," Maria continued. "We have to destroy them. It's the only way,"

Immedietly, the vampire Sarah ripped off the necklaces and gave them to the girl. Maria smiled.

"We're gonna need you in a bit," she said.

Micheal looked in wonder at his sister.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" asked Maria.

"Talk to a vampire without the sucking blood part?"

"You just gotta know how to talk to a girl,"

Anne was in an intense sword-fight with Dracula it felt like it raged on for hours, when really it was just a few minutes. They were two immortals locked in an epic battle...well maybe not epic, but it was epic for the Valerious family. When they crossed blades, they stared at each other, cold in the eyes.

"Well Anne here we are," Dracula said. "Right where we left off,"

"I seem to recall there were no swords involved in your persuasion for me to become your bride," Anne said through her teeth.

Another clash and a clang, they began their swordfight once again. Van Helsing looked at the giant clock. It had just struck 11:58. They were running out of time. Grabbing the syringe out of his pocket, he started running toward the vampire Sarah. There was only one place to cure her and that was through the heart. If it happened before midnight, Sarah would still have a chance to get the necklaces, and end the Blood Eclipse. He looked to his right, and saw Sarah the Ghost struggling with Taylor.

"You always were weak Valerious," Taylor spat in her face.

Sarah glared at him.

"Weak?" she asked him. "Weak! How dare you say such a thing!"

Sarah the Ghost pushed him off against the wall. It happened so fast. Just when he banged against the wall, Sarah flipped her sword up off the ground, practically flew across the room and stabbed him, impaling him, and making his stuck to the wall. Taylor yelled out in pain. Sarah stared at him with a determined look.

"I am Sarah Anne Valerious, Gypsy Princess of Translyvania," she said to him. "I have never been called weak in my entire life, and I am not about to be called that now. For as long as I shall live, I will protect those who are called weak, and make them strong, so that people like you won't bring them down. And you're not going to stop me!"

"What makes you think that?" asked Taylor.

Sarah merely smiled.

"Have you not noticed?" she asked him softly. "I just stabbed you in the heart,"

Taylor's eyes grew wide as he looked down at the sword impaling him. He turned to dust before he could even scream out

* * *

**Sarah:** Wahoo! He's gone! No more perverted vampire! Wait...I'm still a ghost, aren't I? 

**Me:** Yep.

**Sarah:** Well hurry up! Don't make me get the flamethrower to make you finish this

**Me**:..You don't have a flamethrower.

**Sarah**:...Oh right. I don't

**Me:** That's right. I hope you guys are happy with this. Review please!


	23. Not Alone or Cursed Anymore

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Sarah wiped her hands togethor, cleaning off the dust of the dead Taylor. Only one vampire remained, and that was the deadliest of them all: Dracula. He looked horrified at the girls power as the clock turned to 11:59. There was one minute to midnight. But we all know a lot can happen in one minute.

"It's just you and me now Dracula," Sarah said, almost in a deadly way. "And there's no escape,"

"Ah," Dracula grinned. "But there will be. I thought there was no escape for you whe I had to captive in this castle weeks ago. Do you remember that night?"

"Don't turn this against me,"

Dracula did not want to listen to the girl. Everyone watched, even Van Helsing, who was trying to get to the Vampire-Sarah.

"I had brought you here one cold night," Dracula said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I could feel your fear...your anger...they way you shivered in the cold. You asked me why I needed you, and like the gentlemen I am, I answered,"

Sarah shook her head.

"You're not a gentlemen," she hissed. "You're a monster,"

"When I told you in case that my plan didn't work, I would turn you into what I am, and I could hear your heart pounding," Dracula ignored her. "And then you approached me before I could leave. You wanted to strike a bargain,"

"Dracula, don't..."

Van Helsing stopped what he was doing, and looked at the confrontation between Dracula and the ghost of Sarah. What bargain were they talking about?

"Don't do this!" Sarah darted her eyes to Dracula and Van Helsing back and forth.

"Ah," Dracula said amused. "So you haven't told them the whole story. Well, I wouldn't either. How would your friends and family take it if you've made a deal with me?"

Dracula thrust his grip on Sarah's throat, and lifted her up in the air. She held onto his wrists choking. Anne had disappeared, and she couldn't help her. She was on her own

"It was your own fault!" he shouted. "You said if Van Helsing didn't come and get you like he swore he would, you would willingly allow me to turn you into a vampire! It was you who brought it upon yourself! You brought your death to me. You begged for it"

Sarah strained on Dracula's grip. She may have been a ghost, but Dracula was practically a ghost himself. When Van Helsing heard this he just stood there. Why would Sarah not tell him this?

"Van Helsing!" Sarah shouted. "Get the cure inside me! Maria! Throw me the necklaces! You're running out of time!"

Maria, taking no hesitation at all, threw the two necklaces into the air. Van Helsing, who had now gotten to the Vampire-Sarah, raised the cure over his head...Once Sarah had a hold of the necklaces, the cure was thrusted into the heart of Vampire-Sarah. A cold sensation went through both the body and the ghost of Sarah. Screams emitted from their mouths, when no intention of ever screaming was ever thought of. A blinding light shone through they foyer. When it dissolved, Dracula was lying on the ground, and Sarah was slowly getting up. The necklaces were still in her hand. But as she tried to get balanced, she fell back to the ground. The blast of energy made her weak. Van Helsing rushed toward her.

"Sarah..." he said softly.

Suddenly, the clock had struck midnight. Van Helsing looked down at Sarah. She was weak. She couldn't move. The moon shone down on her, making her glow. The necklaces started to shine. One blue. The other yellow. Everyone watched as a power took control. Sarah was starting to rise up into the air. She stopped in the mid-air. Even though weak, she was strong enough to turn her head to Dracula who was getting up, astounded at the sight.

"Count Vladislaus Dragulia," she stated. "Over the centuries you have murdered men, women, and children. You have terrorized my people, and my family and friends. For this offense, I sentance you to eternal death. No one will bring you back to life. It will not be possible this time...The people of Transylvannia will not be terrorized by you anymore,"

With this, Sarah rose up her hands, and a yellow glow emitted from her fingers. It struck Dracula at the heart, and he let out an inhumane scream. The sky whistled as the wind blew hard. Sarah dropped from the air, and collapsed on the ground during the commotion. Everyone toook cover as Dracula's skin started to melt off like falling dust. All that was left was his skeleton, which exploded into dust. Silence fell on the foyer. Anna looked up to find her daughter lying on the ground, and Van Helsing trying to revivie her.

"No!" she whispered loudly.

"Sarah!" Van Helsing shook her shoulders. "Come on Sarah. Wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up! Wake up!"

But Sarah would not wake up. Anna dropped to her knees and took her daughter's limp form in her arms.

"My child..." she whispered with tears. "My child..."

The children looked on with sadness. Maria started sobbing on Carl's robes, as Steel shook his head in disbelief. All that work they had done, and Sarah was still dead. Why didn't it work? Micheal put a hand on his friends shoulder, tears streaming down from his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"How could we have failed?" Steel whispered.

"You didn't," said a voice.

Everyone looked up to see Anne, smiling as she walked toward Van Helsing and Anna. Anna laid her daughter on the ground, and Van Helsing put his arms around her. Anne bent down beside the lifeless Sarah, and took her limp hand.

"Sarah," she said softly. "I know you can hear me. You heart has stopped, no breath is escaping your lips, no pulse is showing that you are alive, but I know you can hear me. I have to leave you. But before I do, I give you the precious gift...of life,"

A glow came from inside Anne's grasp on Sarah's hand. Giving one last look to Van Helsing and Anna, Anne smiled.

"Thank you all," she said. "So very much,"

And with that, Anne disappeared. The room was still for but a moment. When suddenly, a sharp gasp sounded, and Sarah immedietly sat up coughing. She was alive.

Anna and Van Helsing had looks of disbelief, and engulfed Sarah in their arms.

"Sarah!" Anna cried.

"Mom?" asked Sarah softly. "...Is it over?...Tell me it's over,"

"How are you feeling?"

"...Tired,"

Van Helsing lifted Sarah up in his arms, and she rested against his shoulder. Anna stood up with him.

"Yes Sarah," he said. "It's over...You're not alone or cursed anymore,"

(A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, there is still one last chapter to this story. You guys happy? And there is going to be another story of the adventures of Sarah Anne Valerious, but it will be in a different category. Where do you think she will be?

**Sarah:** Who cares? As long as I'm alive in this one.

**Me:** You are. Don't worry.

**Sarah:** Good. Because if I wasn't, I'd have to hurt you.

**Me:** (saracasm) Oh no. Don't. Review please)


	24. Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own "Van Helsing"

Everyone was quiet when they had reached home. Sarah was sentanced to her bed, to build up her strength. She mostly slept, and didn't speak to anyone. Our adventure was over. There would be other ones, but this one would play over and over in the children's minds. Maria, Steel, and Micheal helped Anna, Van Helsing, and Carl clean up the Valerious Manor. The mess the brides had made was still there when they came back. A week from the eclipse, Sarah was still in bed, but well enough to sit up. She was looking out her window, early that morning. Snow was falling like stars, which made her relaxed and smile for the first time. A knock sounded on her door, and before she could allow entrance, Maria skipped in and jumped on Sarah's bed.

"You feeling better?" she asked.

Sarah smiled at the girl.

"Much," she said.

"Then why are you still in bed?" Maria frowned. "Come on! It's snowing outside! Micheal and Steel are getting ready to go. We're gonna build forts, snowmen, have snowball fights, make snow angels, catch snowflakes..."

"She's still bed ridden for a few more days Maria," Anna said as she brought in some soup. "Hi sweetheart,"

"Hi mom," Sarah said. "Maria, go on outside. Tell the others I'm sorry I can't make it today,"

Maria still had a pout on her face, but left the room anyway. Anna shook her head.

"She told me over the week she wants to fight like you," she said. "Carl caught her last night trying to learn to swordfight by herself,"

"I promised her I'd teach her," Sarah said as she sipped her soup. "But she's only ten. I'm gonna wait a few more years,"

"...Van Helsing wants to talk to you,"

Sarah stopped eating her soup and looked up at her mom, in a curious way. Then it hit her.

"Are you mad about that deal I made with Dracula?" she asked.

Anna shook her head.

"I'm not," she said.

"But Van Helsing is," Sarah confirmed.

"He's not. He just wants to ask you about it. That's all...I'm gonna send him in,"

"**Mom.**.."

"Sarah Anne..."

"All right,"

Anna went outside the room and closed the door behind her. Sarah sighed as she looked around her room. She wanted to open the window to feel the snowflakes. But if she did, she'd have to get out of bed. And despite her energy being fulfilled, she still had wobbly legs. She heard a knock, and whipped her head around to find Van Helsing with his hand on the door.

"Feeling any better?" he asked as he pulled up a chair.

"Emotional or Physical?" Sarah asked him.

"You tell me,"

Sarah sighed, and closed her eyes.

"Carl spent the week researching your family history," Van Helsing said. "In the 1400's, 3 witches prophesied that a young women would destroy the man who took lives by sucking their blood. They made sure the necklace was well hidden. Anne found it...and soon it came to you...Turns out that you were the one to destroy him,"

"I did it while I was dead," Sarah whispered. "...That's the part that freaks me out"

"...Something else is, isn't it?"

Sarah did nothing to answer this question

"...You don't have to say anything Sarah," Van Helsing said softly. "Just listen...I heard what happened at Castle Dracula last week. I want to hear your story though. Dracula said you begged for death, but I don't believe that...Tell me what happened,"

"...After you told me to hide at Vilkova Palace, I hid in a room," Sarah said, her voice choking. "This was in Budapest when we went to rescue mom. And Aleera was coming through the door, and so I escaped through the window. It was raining. And I heard your voice, and you were in the river below me. I had to jump, and then Dracula caught me and took me away. I heard you make a promise to me,"

"_I'll find you!_" she could still hear his voice echo in her mind. "_I'll get you back and set you free! I promise you!_"

"And Dracula pushed me through this portal and I was in Castle Dracula. I tried to get back out but it was a one way ticket to being frozen to death. Dracula told me that if the plan to bring his children back to life didn't work with the Frankenstein Monster, he said he would suck my blood and make me into one of the children of the night," Sarah was now crying. "I couldn't let him do that. I knew you would be there. So I made that deal with him. And I spent the rest of the night thinking _'What have I done?'_ because you didn't know where I was, and I knew pretty soon that I was going to die. So go ahead. Tell me that I gambled with my life. Tell me that I made a horrible mistake. Because you know what? I would've gladly given myself away to make sure that the world didn't become a vampire buffet. I swore an oath! An oath! To protect this world from Dracula, and I did all that I could!"

Van Helsing's eyes were now wide by this sudden outburst. Everything that had been locked up inside Sarah was now out.

"Sarah," he said. "...I just want you to know, that if I was in your position...I would've done the same thing,"

"What?" Sarah whispered.

"You knew Dracula couldn't pass up a bet. You bought me more time. He would've bitten you right then and there. If you didn't make that deal, Sarah, you'd be dead. I would've had to kill you to set you free...I'm glad you did it,"

Tears streamed down Sarah's face. She threw her arms around Van Helsing's neck and hugged him tightly. All this time, she was afraid for nothing. Once she was done, she wiped her eyes, as Van Helsing stood up, and lifted her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Taking you outside," he said, walking out her bedroom door with her. "It's good to get some fresh air once in a while,"

Van Helsing met with Anna and Carl downstairs. Anna covered Sarah with a blanket so she wouldn't get cold, and they opened the front door, to see Micheal, Maria and Steel having snow ball fights. They watched with amusement.

"You'll never take me alive!" shouted Micheal.

"That's what you said last time!" Steel remarked.

"And we still caught you!" Maria stuck her tongue out

Maria was on Steel's side, while Micheal had a fort to himself.

"Aw, go make snow angels Maria!" exclaimed Micheal. "This is a man's game,"

Sarah shook her head.

"You're not a man!" she said laughing. "You're a teenager!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and found Sarah watching in Van Helsing's arms.

"Sarah!" Micheal and Maria both cried and ran up to her.

"Hey," Sarah said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Micheal inquired.

"We wanted her to get outside," Anna said.

Suddenly, Steel rode up on Sarah's horse, Moonlight.

"You wanna go take a ride with me?" he asked.

"Mom," Sarah said. "Can I?"

Anna just smiled.

"...All right," she said as Van Helsing placed her in front of Steel.

"Steel," Van Helsing said. "Keep her warm. Keep her safe. If she get's cold, bring her back here. We don't want her getting sick. And..."

But Steel and Sarah were already off, riding into the snow, galloping as gast as Moonlight would take them.

"**STEEL**!" shouted Van Helsing.

Anna laughed.

"Let them go," she said leading him back into the house.

"Excuse me," Van Helsing followed her. "But your daughter is galloping off, when she should be rested,"

"Then you," Anna poked him playfully. "Should never have taken her out the first place.

Steel and Sarah rode by Castle Frankenstein and stopped, overlooking the place. There were so many memories in that place that Sarah had buried in there. Never again would they haunt her mind. Never again would she be hunted down by blood suckers.

"We've been through a lot lately," Steel said. "...How are you liking your powers?"

Sarah just smiled a bit.

"I don't have them," she said.

Steel's eyes went wide.

"What?" he asked.

"When I was up in the air at Castle Dracula," Sarah explained. "I made a different wish. It wasn't to detroy evil or to make the world vampires...but to not have the powers that I was destined to have, but I would just enough to destroy Dracula,"

"Why?"

"...Because I want to write my own destiny...I'm sorry I dragged you into this,"

"I would've followed you if you didn't anyway. I was assigned to protect you,"

Sarah smirked.

"I know," she said. "...But you weren't assigned to love me,"

"That's not an assignment," Steel made her face him. "...That's fate,"

The two smiled at each other, and kissed one another softly.

_**EPILOUGE:**_

"You may kiss the bride," said Carl.

Van Helsing smiled, and pulled the veil off of Anna's face, and kissed her passionately. It had been six months since the incident with Dracula, but it was all forgotten. Sarah's smile couldn't any bigger. She had a family intact. A family. The white dress her mother had was created in her vision, just like the dress Sarah saw in her dream. They had the wedding by the sea, which Anna enjoyed so much. During the reception, Maria and Micheal played in the shore, not minding if they got their formal wear wet. Steel had been the best man since Carl was conducting the ceremony, and Sarah was presented as maid of honor. Maria was the flower girl, while Micheal had been the ringbearer...although he did almost lose it when it was time to put the rings on. There never was a happier family than that of the Van Helsings.

(A/N: It's finally complete! And before school started too. I have to leave you now, but there will be another story like before. So here's the summary)

_When she was thirteen, she met the greatest monster hunter. During the dead of winter, she fought the worlds deadliest vampire. Now, she's after the world's most wanted man. She will join a league of extraordinary gentlemen. A hunter...A special agent...An invisble man...An immortal...A scientist...A monster in disguise and A vampire. Go now to read "The Huntress of the League"_


End file.
